Newbies
by babbitrulez
Summary: Four new penguins join Skipper, Kowalski, Rico, and Private. The new four are trouble, but enjoyable. Will they change our commando penguins for better or worse? There's Skilene in there, too. T for some 'stuff'. Sorry this update isn't a real chapter...
1. The Meeting

Hey, guys! babbitrulez, here. ... And... HAHA!! I have tricked you! That was merely a test! I was planning to post the one with the least votes all along!! MWA-HA-HA!! And if you're mad...? TOO BAD!! ... I'm sorry. That was kinda mean... But anyways... It came down to two stories, so I just chose the one I had more fun writing. ... So...

Standard disclaimer applies... I don't own the characters of The Penguins of Madagascar... I only own my OCs. (You'll know who they are. I won't name them.)

Oh! and another! (Sorry. My friends'll probably sue me if I don't mention 'em...)

This story is a collaboration between iGothic and I. Almost all the funny stuff was lent to me by her. ... And one of my other friends. Thank you for reading this message.

Alright. Well, I've been stalling for a while now with my long explanations... So... on wit dee story! Ah-hah-hah!

* * *

**Newbies**

**-a story about four penguins… plus an otter… plus four more penguins…-**

**Chapter 1: The Meeting**

It was 0600 hours (one hour before the zoo opened) and the head penguin, by the name of Skipper, had woken up his men for an announcement. "…I can feel it in my gut, boys," Skipper said.

"Um… What exactly **do** you feel in your gut, Skippah…?," Private asked tentatively.

"Those fish from yesterday. … And the fact that something big's gonna happen today."

"Oh."

"What do **you** men feel in your gut?"

"Um… Fish…?," Private answered.

"Hydrochloric acid swirling around **digesting** fish…?"

"Eugh…," the youngest member of their group uttered softly.

"Hmm…," Rico thought, tapping his chin a few times with his right flipper. "Nn-yeh-**gey**!!" He had hacked up a chainsaw and turned it on, laughing maniacally. "AH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAAAAH!," scaring poor, little Private.

With a straight face, Skipper said sternly, "Rico. Put that away. We may need it later."

"Raw…," he groaned in disappointment before tossing the gardening device/weapon into the air. When it came down, he swallowed it with a gulp.

**THUMP**!

"What in the halibut was **that**?," the flat-topped penguin asked.

"It appears to have been some sort of **thump**, Skipper."

"… Yes, Kowalski. We **heard** it…," Skipper answered, his half-lidded eyes showing slight irritation.

"… My apologies, but without **seeing** the object that created the clamor, I'm afraid that's my best answer to your question."

"My **rhetorical** question."

"…Oh."

"Everyone up the ladder! Time to recon the perimeter." The lead penguin began climbing, his teammates right behind him.

All four birds jumped out from the hatch and landed in defensive positions.

A large wooden box with quarter-sized holes sat on the concrete of their floe.

"Kowalski. Analysis."

"Eeee…! Th're's s'meone **out** there!," a voice said excitedly from the box.

Skipper and Kowalski looked confusedly at each other as Rico and Private just tilted their heads to the side, also baffled.

"Shut-**up**…!," another voice said. A slap was heard, then "NYAGH!," from the first voice.

"Guys… **Please**… Stop it…," a soft, concerned voice pleaded.

"… **Fine**…," the first voice growled.

All was silent until a new and fourth voice shouted out, "Mitchel Musso 's hot!"

"**Shutup**, Des…," the second voice muttered.

"Well, 'e **is**…!"

"True. He is," the first voice agreed, saying something once again.

"… Whatever."

"Guys…?," the quiet voice said again. "You know they're still **out** there, right…?"

"Oh."

"Right."

"Duh…"

All was silent.

"Kowalski. Analysis. Quickly!," Skipper whispered so whatever was in the box couldn't hear him.

The first voice spoke again… "I think he said someth'ng ag—ooh!" …only to be interrupted by another slap.

"It appears to be a crate."

"Hiiiiii!," the fourth voice shouted happily.

"… One with **animals** inside."

"No **duh**, Einstein…," an impatient voice said.

"I beg your—!"

"Just find a way to get us outta here…!"

"Please…? If… you don't mind uh'course…," the gentle voice added.

"Breh!" Rico coughed up a crowbar and used it to tear the front of the box open. He swallowed it again, then said, "Ta-dah…!"

"Good work, Rico. Now let's— Sweet tuna fish salad!"

"What? You've never seen a **girl** before…?," the voice they first heard said in an amused tone.

It had come from a chinstrap penguin of Skipper's height, but smaller around her waist area. She wore black glasses over her dark brown (almost black) eyes and had a light blue bead holding three abnormally long feathers at the back of her head that reached slightly past her shoulders. She smirked, showing the fact that she had a "beauty mark" on her left cheek.

A she-penguin (who was also a chinstrap) of Private's height popped out from behind her. "Hey! What's up, buttercup?!" She had a huge smile. The smiling penguin had many feathers that hung down on her head, three or four of them covering her left eye.

"… Chinstrap Sisters…?," Skipper asked slowly, baffled and shocked at this blast from the past.

"…No…?," the first she-penguin drawled amusedly, leisurely shaking her head.

"I'm Destiny and this is my cousin, Corinne!," the second she-penguin stated cheerfully.

Skipper sighed in relief. He and his men weren't going to lose 15 feet of intestines today.

"But you c'n call me Des 'n' her, Cori." Des pointed to her ponytailed cousin with her own birthmarked flippers. Both flippers had large white rings around them that looked like fingerless gloves complete with thumbhole. Her left one had a small, white, clay skull on a string like a bracelet. She also wore glasses, although hers were blue, not black.

"Shut up, you guys…," came a voice from the shadows of a back corner. A dark gray eye opened in the dark (that was all that could be seen), making the boys jump back a step.

Both slate-colored eyes opened, and an African penguin that was Rico's height (and didn't have a hunchback sorta thing goin' on…) walked out of the shadows. She had messy, dark brown feathers that reached to right above her shoulders, one of them on the right side of her face curling towards her eye. In fact, both of her eyes had an evil glint, unsettling Skipper, Kowalski and Private, but intriguing Rico.

Her flippers were crossed and she walked past the two cousins, smacking Cori in the back of the head, making her flinch.

When she slapped Cori, the penguins could see that a chunk of her left flipper was missing.

"Hey," she said coolly asked she walked into the sunlight. "Name's Shadow. Don't forget it. Hate sun. Love the dark. Goin' back in. Bye." Shadow walked back into the crate and into the shadows. Her eyes closed, so if they hadn't known better, the boys would've thought she wasn't even there.

…

Quiet crept over the penguin habitat.

… That is, until…

Private spoke up. "Who's that **behind** you two…?"

"Huh?," Cori said, she and Des turning their heads towards their tallest friend. "Oh, that's **Ali**!"

"… Hey. Pleased t' meetchu," the tall she-penguin softly greeted, a small smile on her face. The gentoo stood up and walked forward, studying the four new penguins before her with two light gray eyes. "Hmm…" She put her right flipper under her beak. "Fr'm how you all carry y'rselves… I'd say… Intellig'nce 'n' reason; av'rage-sized and odd 'n'a good way; younger, so shorter 'n' leader; and cuteness matched w'th stealth," Ali stated.

… Once again. … Quiet.

"… Wow. … She's…"

"Absolutely **correct**…!," Kowalski smiled, finishing Skipper's sentence.

"Yeah. That's the one."

Ali giggled softly. "Thanks…"

"Als."

The tall she-penguin quickly turned her head over her shoulder to look at the one who had called, her long, light brown feathers from her head that reached her waistline flowing along behind her.

The guys noticed a large, pink bow smack dab in the center of the back of her head.

"Yeah, Shadow?"

"C'mere."

She complied and asked, "What 's it?"

"Where are we…?"

"Well… We can't be in 'Ntarctica… T's'not cold enough… And we're **definitely** not 'n **Georgia** anymore…"

"**Finally**! We're **outta** that place!" Shadow stood up and stretched. So where **were** they…?

"Um…" Ali took in her surroundings. "Using deductive reasoning 'n' from th' looks of th's concrete jungle, I'd say we're in th' Big Apple."

"New York. … Fun."

"Yay!," exclaimed Cori.

"'Ve never **been** to **New** **York** b'fore!"

Shadow walked out of her shadowy corner and smacked both Cori and Des on the back of their heads.

"**Oo**-ooowwwww…!," the two said in unison, different pitches and all.

"Idiots…," Shadow muttered under her breath. "So where do **we** bunk…?," she asked Kowalski, who Ali had pointed out as the intelligent one.

"Well… Uh…"

"What? No options…? Meh." She shrugged her shoulder. "Guess I'll have tuh ask Co—"

"No! I have options!"

"Well then spit 'em out, Kowalski," Skipper said.

Kowalski pulled out his clipboard and scribbled for a few seconds. He showed a picture of Rico with a knife in his flipper and said, "Well, we could have Rico carve a few beds into the wall, the question being, which wall."

"Um… Is… Is th're a **second** option…?," asked Destiny in a quavering voice as she, Corinne, and Ali warily looked at Rico.

"Yeah…," agreed Ali.

"'M not sure 'f I trust him w'th a knife…," Cori stated. "No offense!," she quickly added.

Rico smiled and shook his head 'no'.

"Um… Option two is…," Kowalski started, doodling once again. He flipped around his clipboard, displaying four sleeping penguins in a cave next to a sleeping otter. "We have you four stay at Marlene's nights and here days."

"Too much moving around. Next," Shadow said, half-glaring at the tall penguin. (AN: note that I didn't say 'she-penguin', meaning Kowalski, not Ali)

"Um… I'd j'st like t'say wuh'more thing about option one…?," said Corinne.

The dark-brown feathered she-penguin sighed. "Fine… Whatever… Go ahead…"

"What're th' chances that the knife would slip outta Rico's flipper and hit me…?"

Ali whipped out an abacus with blue beads from behind her back (widening Kowalski's eyes) and started calculating. "20 perc'nt chance, Cori."

"**Wow**. 1 out of **5**… That's a **big** chance…," Shadow said sincerely. "Um… I guess I'm sure now which one **not** to pick… OPTION 1! GO WITH OPTION 1! **Please**…!"

"**Sha**-dow…!," Corinne shouted forcefully, although looking like she was about to cry.

"Kidding…," Shadow said, smirking.

"Oh. W'll that's okay then." Cori smiled happily.

"My gym partner's a **monkey**!," she and Des sang, confusing everyone around them.

"… Yeah…," Shadow drawled. Turning back to Kowalski, she told him, "We'll bunk with this '**Marlene'** tonight, but you better have some bunks for us carved out of the wall by tomorrow…" She glared as she spoke.

The tall penguin gulped. "Y-yes… Alright."

"… Good." Shadow's demeanor completely changed. "So where are **you** sneaking off to…?," she asked Private, a pleasant smile on her face.

"Oh. I was just going to tell Mahrlene that—"

"Hey guys!"

"… Nevahmind."

"So what's up?," the otter asked from on top of the barrier to the penguin habitat. "I heard there were some new arrivals and—" She spotted the four she-penguins. "… was going to ask you guys to come with and meet 'em… but I see they're already here!" Marlene dove into the water, swam for a few seconds, then jumped onto the floe, extending her paw to Shadow, a smile on her face. "Hi. I'm Marlene."

Shadow's smile and bright eyes quickly turned into a slight frown and cold eyes.

Cori and Des walked up to Marlene, pushing her away.

"Um… I'don't think she likes you…," Cori noted.

"Well, why is **that**…?," the frustrated otter inquired, arms akimbo.

Des answered her question with a question. "'Re you random…?"

"Uh… I dunno, why?"

"Because…!," Cori explained, looking at Shadow with slight fear. "She c'n tell by your **scent**…!"

"My… **scent**…?"

"Yeah. She welcomes **random** animals w'th'open flippers, but **shuns** non-randoms intuh 'blivion with'er **glare**…!," Des continued.

"And the worst part is…," Cori started.

"It **never** **ENDS**…!," Des and Cori added, their faces the very definition of terrorizing (what with their wide-open eyes, their half-grimaces, and their furrowed eyebrows…).

"Unless 'f course, you **become** random!," Des smiled as she clarified.

"…Right, right-right. So who **are** you guys?"

"Oh! We got transferred here fr'm th' Georgia 'Quarium!," Des said.

"I'm Cori 'nd th's's Des, my cousin."

"Th' tall one's Ali…," Des began.

"…and the other one's Shadow," Cori finished.

"Uh-**huh**…"

"Hey. There any **girbles** at this zoo…?," asked Shadow. (AN: pronounced with a hard g, people. like **GIR**-bles … GIR from Invader ZIM.)

"See? Random!," Cori stated happily.

Skipper walked up to Marlene, Kowalski and Private close behind. "Those are some **twisted** sisters…"

"I dunno, Skippah. I kind of like them."

"Rico!"

Private flinched. … But… not feeling anything, he relaxed and said, "Uh… What happened…?"

…Nothing. **Nothing** had happened.

"… Rico…?," Skipper asked.

"Skipper, I believe he's associating with the other party."

Kowalski was right, of course. Rico was happily 'chatting' with Shadow. Destiny and Corinne went to poke them (Corinne after Rico and Destiny out for Shadow), but the two taller penguins simply pushed them away with straight faces.

"Ow…," pouted Cori and Des in unison as they rubbed their flippers where they were pushed.

"I told you guys'not to…," Ali quietly reminded.

"Yeah, yeah…," Des grumbled.

"We know…," added Cori.

"Did somebody say '**party'**?!"

Skipper sighed and muttered, "Oh, for the love of—"

"It is me, King Julien! Sorry with me being of the lateness. I and Maurice were discussing whether or not to be greetingful to our new neighbors, when dee annoying Mort kept touching da royal feet! So I, me, da **king**, had to be taking care of da busy-ness."

"What're you doing here, Ringtail…?"

"Did I not just **say** dat? Because I am being pretty sure the words came out of my kingly mouth. Maurice! Did I, the grand and regal King Julien, not **say** dat?!"

"I'm sure you **did**, your majesty."

"Den **why** is the silly paynguin saying I did **not**?!"

"**HEY**!"

All heads turned to the source of the outburst.

"Will you shut **up** over there?! I'm **trying** to have a **civilized** conversation!," Shadow screamed.

Julien and Maurice just looked at each other in surprise.

Cori, Des, and Ali just continued their game of Go Fish.

Kowalski, Skipper, Private, and Marlene just tilted their heads in disbelief.

Rico just smiled at her.

"**Thank** you…! Now as I was saying, Rico, I— … This is a **private** conversation…!"

"You're talking about me…?" Private asked.

"No… Why would you think **that**…?"

"Oh. Because that's my name."

"… '**Private'**…?"

"Yes."

They just looked at each other for a bit.

Shadow looked confused while Private just smiled.

Confusion.

Smile.

Confusion.

Smile.

Confusion.  
Smile.  
Confusion.  
Smile.  
Confusion! Smile! Confusion! Smile! Conf—

"I WIN! … Now hand over my fish."

Everyone looked at Destiny (excluding Ali and Corinne).

Des looked over her shoulder and innocently asked, "…What…?"

"Hey. We never got any'f'your names…!," Cori declared.

"Yeah… We told all of you **our** names… but none of **you** told us **your** names…," said the soft-spoken Ali.

"Oh! Well this is Skipper, the tall one is Kowalski, Rico is the one over there by you, and Private is the youngest and the shortest," Marlene explained.

"Thanks!," Des said, then turned back to Ali and Cori. "Now. Where're my fish…?"

"For the **last** time, Des… Just 'cause it's **called** 'Go Fish' does **not** mean YOU WIN **FISH**…!," Shadow said, raising her voice every few words, working her way up to a scream.

"Aw…," Des pouted.

Rico coughed up a frying pan and held it up to the irked Shadow. "Eh…?"

She looked next to her, then shook her head, smiling. "No thanks, Rico."

"Raw…"

"…Well…"

"Uh-huh…?," he prodded eagerly.

"Hand it to me. I wanna see if someone has fast reflexes…," Shadow said, with a mischievous smirk and a maniacal glint in her eye.

"Ah-hah!" He replied, nodding his head and passing her the iron frying pan.

"Thanks. **HEADS UP, JULIEN**!"

"Maurice. Why is the she-pahynguin telling me to put my regal head **up** when something is flying at me?," Julien asked. "Should it not be head **dow**—Oofg!" The ring-tailed lemur flew off the brick separating the lemur habitat from the penguin habitat.

"King Julien! King Julien! Are you alright?!," Mort asked, scurrying up to his king.

"Yeah. You took a real hit," Maurice added.

Julien wobbily sat up. "**You** dare!," he said, pointing to a tree. "Clean the royal **foog**-la-roo!"

"… Is… Is that what I **sounded** like…?," asked a slightly perturbed Kowalski.

"… Uh… …More or less…," Skipper replied.

Kowalski flinched in disturbance, a grimace contorting his face while Rico and Shadow slapped flippers, smiling triumphantly.

"Ah… Young love…," Skipper remarked, turning back around.

"But… Rico's the oldest of us, sir," Private commented.

"Yeah, but… **'old love'** just doesn't sound right."

"…" Private thought about that for a moment. "… Then 'young love' it is!"

* * *

... So... What'd you think of the story? And sorry about the millons of apostrophes, but that's how the people these characters are based off of talk. And no, it's not a "true" southern accent. ... Just lotsa slang. Oh! Which of the OCs did you like best? (Yes, you can say more than one or even all.) ... Anyways, I really only have one **BURNING** question for you guys.

...

...

...

...

On a scale... of 1 to 10... 1... being the best... what... would you rate candy buttons? And don't worry. I just wanna know.

... Well. ... That's about it. This story should be updated once every month (on the first) unless I have a **Special Bonus Holiday Chapter**. Then there'll probably be two: one long one and one short one.

...Hmms... That's... That's about it. ... So I shall leave you with a quote. (If anyone guesses right, you get a cookie. ... Or a one-chapter / one-scene cameo in the story. Either one. Your choice. ... And just so you know, the cookie is virtual.)

"Always. Look. In. The box."

babbitrulez, out!


	2. To Marlene’s And Awaaay!

Hey guys! I'm back! Told you it'd be on the 1st! ... Okay. So. This is chapter two. Standard disclaimer applies and junk... I'll speed this up a bit... And vee go!

* * *

**Newbies**

**-a story about four penguins… plus an otter… plus four more penguins…-**

**Chapter 2: To Marlene's And Awaaay!**

It was 6:30PM. The zoo had closed about thirty minutes ago, telling the animals that soon they were free to roam for there were no people around.

"Come on. Time to go to Marlene's," Skipper said, jumping into the water, followed closely by all except Corinne and Destiny. He stopped, then resurfaced (along with everyone else) and noticed the two standing at the water's edge. "What's **wrong** with you two? Just jump in, swim, and jump out!"

"Yeah… Here's th' thing…," Des began as the two she-penguins looked down into the water.

"We can't 'xactly… What's th' word…?," asked Cori.

Shadow sighed. "They can't swim."

Four penguin eyebrows flew up (one on each face).

"A penguin that can't swim? That's highly illogical," Kowalski stated. "… And **two**…? That's **improbable**…!"

"And yet… They're shivering right in front of you," Shadow stated.

"We're **not** jump'ng 'n there…," Des and Cori declared as they held each other and looked indignantly at the water.

Skipper smacked his forehead.

"Alright, enough of this. Ali, come with," Shadow ordered as she jumped out of the water.

Ali did as told and followed.

"Als, you get Cori. I'll get Des. She's short."

"Hey!"

"You know it's true…," the dark brown-feathered she-penguin smirked.

Des simply pouted and crossed her flippers.

"Now, **upsie**-daisie!," Shadow said, picking up Des, then tossing her over the barrier.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! … Oof!"

"Allie-**oop**!," Ali said, throwing Cori over, too.

"What th' **heeeeeeeeck**?! … Ah!"

"**Ow**-wwww…," the two recently-thrown she-penguins miserably whined from the other side of the wall.

"Let's go," Shadow said firmly as she, followed by Ali, jumped into the water, swam past the penguins, and jumped onto the barrier.

Ali turned around, smiling unfazed as her dark-brown-feathered friend turned around, too, an expectant look on her face.

"Come **on**…!," she declared. Then she and Ali jumped off the wall and landed softly on the ground.

Private and Kowalski looked at each other for answers while Skipper stared, expressionless, up at where the two she-penguins had just been and Rico seemed as though he was looking through the wall as he smiled admiringly.

"**Guy**-uys…!," Shadow shouted impatiently from the other side of the brick.

"Dude, I think you **broke** somethin'…"

"Cori… I can't feel my fingers… I can't feel my **fingers**, Cori!"

"Idiot! You don't **have** fingers…!," Shadow shouted.

"… Oh. Right."

Ali giggled amusedly at her friends' antics.

The four penguins floating in the water shook their heads to refocus on the current mission and proceeded out of the enclosure.

"**Finally**…"

"This'should be quite **fun**…," the tall she-penguin uttered.

"I wanna see Marlene again!," Des exclaimed.

"Yeah! She seems cool!," agreed Cori.

"Even cooler than—," Des began.

"Don't say it…," Shadow threatened.

"Than—," Cori tried to finish.

-**smack**!-

"Ow…," the two glasses-wearing she-penguins muttered.

"Guys…," Ali quietly said, half-disappointed and half-amused.

"How much longer with these girls, Kowalski…?," Skipper asked, confusedly looking the four she-penguins up and down.

"I hate you," Cori stated.

The tall penguin whipped out his abacus and started quickly moving around the beads, but before he could finish, Ali interrupted and said, "I'd say 'bout 6.25 months."

"No, you don't…!," Shadow remarked, smirking.

Kowalski, surprised at how quick she was, looked at her as he peeked from behind his abacus.

"Yeah. I do," Cori assured.

"B't that's just 'n estimate. I'd need m'abacus tuh make sure, b't I **think** that's it."

"Come **ahhn**…! You **know** you love me…!," Shadow provoked.

Kowalski, out of his daze, finished the problem. His eyes widened and he said, "You're absolutely correct…!"

"Nope," Cori said firmly.

As he smiled, impressed, at Ali, she smiled modestly back, blushing so that you could slightly see it under her thin feathers.

"You know you **do**…!," Shadow grinned.

While they looked at each other, Private and Rico, intrigued, watched Cori and Shadow while a bored Des stared off into space and Skipper continued on for Marlene's habitat.

Shadow's right flipper was draped over Cori's right shoulder as she smiled knowingly.

Cori just crossed her flippers indignantly and looked straight ahead through half-lidded eyes. "… Shut up."

"Come **ahhn**…!"

"She's right. Come on, you slowpokes! We've gotta get to Marlene's before anyone kills each other," Skipper announced.

"Oh. 'Nd that reminds me," Cori said with a straight face. "I'm gonna hurtcha tonight."

Shadow removed her flipper from Cori's shoulder as they started walking. "And… **how** many times have you said that…?," she remarked, smiling lopsided.

"… I know wh're you live…"

"Yeah. With **you**. … Idiot…," she smirked as she rolled her eyes.

"Hey. Where'd Ahli go?," asked Private.

"Yeah. 'N' come tuh think 'f it… where's **Kowalski**?," added Des.

Everyone stopped and turned around to see Kowalski and Ali smiling dreamily at each other, beaks centimeters apart.

It sounded like someone abruptly stopping a record when Skipper yelled, "Break it up you two!"

The tall penguin's and she-penguin's eyes widened, then looked over to their friends in embarrassment. Smiling sheepishly, they ran over to their friends and caught up right when they all reached the wall of Marlene's habitat.

"Hey guys!," the aforementioned otter greeted from atop the wall of her enclosure as she waved.

A glare from Shadow.

"… And… girls…"

The black and white birds jumped onto the wall with Marlene.

"We're just here to drop off the newbs," Skipper stated.

"Great! We get to have **girl** time!," the otter exclaimed happily.

"…Riiight…," the flat-topped penguin drawled sarcastically. "Well, you enjoy that girl time… C'mon, men! Let's move out. Recon at 0600 hours." He jumped off and onto the concrete of the zoo ground.

"Yes, sir…" "Yes, sir, Skippah, sir!" "Raw… Oh-kay…"

With a salute, Skipper said, "They're **your** problem now," and left on his belly. His troops were close behind, of course, but were waddling and waving goodbye to the she-penguins.

It was quiet as the she-penguins (and Marlene) waved back and watched the penguins disappear into their HQ.

After the four were out of sight, it was still quiet. … Until… Cori posed a question.

"So. How're we gonna get ov'r th're **this** time?," Cori asked, looking down into the water with her cousin.

Shadow leaned her head in between Cori and Des', a smirk on her face as she looked between the two.

"Should **not**… h've said that…," Des sighed, Shadow hefting her onto her shoulder.

"Yeah…," agreed Cori as Ali picked her up once again.

"Wait. **Why** are you doing this…?," Marlene asked.

"These two idiots can't swim," Shadow answered, nodding her heads at Cori and Des who waved and smiled awkwardly.

"Huh? Penguins who can't—"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Heard the whole bit already. We're gonna toss 'em now."

"Toss—?" But Marlene was cut off by…

"Waaaaahhhhhh!," Cori wailed. "Ow!"

"I hate thiiiiiiiiiiiiiis!," Des screamed. "Oof!"

Marlene looked down at the sulking she-penguins on the concrete floor of her home. "… Nevermind."

--

"Waaaaahhhhhh!" they heard from inside their base, followed by an "I hate thiiiiiiiiiiiiiis!"

The four penguins smiled amusedly at this.

"Kowalski! Plan where the girls' bunks'll be. Rico! Get ready to carve 'em out wherever Kowalski puts 'em. And Private?!"

"Yes, sir?," he answered happily.

"Go… Uh… Go… scavenge some… pillows or… blankets… or something."

"Yes, sir!"

"Everyone know their jobs?"

"Affirmative," Kowalski answered as Rico simply nodded his head a few times.

"But, Skippah… … What's **your** job?"

"I'm supervising. Any questions, Private?"

"Well, I—"

"Rico!"

-**smack!**-

"Any **more** questions?"

"No, sir."

"Then move out, men!"

--

"So. What should we do first?," Marlene smiled, her paws clasped together in front of her chest.

Shadow glared at the otter over her shoulder.

Cori and Des looked at each other with sly looks on their faces.

Ali just smiled.

"Karaoke mash-up time!," the two glasses-wearing she-penguins shouted.

"Karaoke… **what** time…?"

"Don't ask," Shadow said emotionlessly.

Cori and Des began singing in harmony, Cori the lower pitch and Des the higher. "Never gonna give you up! Never gonna let you down! Never gonna come around and – No one! No one! No o-o-o-o-o-ooone…! can get in the way of what – Rolled right off my back. But obviously my armor was cracked. What kind of a boyfriend would forget – I'm screamin' at you! Hey! Don't care enough to write you a letter now that I'm feelin' – Lonely…! I'm Mister Lonely…! I got nobody…! All on my owwww—!"

"Sssstop it! Stop it! Will you **shut**! **UP**?!," Marlene shouted as she interrupted their high note, irritated already.

Cori and Des looked at Marlene, disappointed in her.

Shadow smirked at her. "Well, well, well… Looks like the otter's got some **back**-bone…"

"I'm sorry, but I just… I couldn't **take** it anymore…," Marlene said, shocked at herself for having what she thought to be a low tolerance.

"Aw… We thought…," Des started.

"…that **you** wou'd let us…"

"Teehee… Lett'ce…"

"Teehee!," Cori echoed.

"I **love** that word!"

"Even though it's'not a word?," Cori smiled.

"Yup!," Des answered happily.

Soon it was a battle of the 'teehee's.

… Until Shadow smacked Cori and Des on the back of their heads…

Then they glared at her as they pouted and rubbed their pained craniums.

"You. **Suck**," Cori said.

Shadow just smiled smugly.

"How do you **deal** with them…?," the otter asked softly, walking up to Ali as they watched Cori, Des, and Shadow smack each other around (playfully, of course).

"Pati'nce," Ali answered.

"Oh…"

"'Nd a mother's love."

"Oh… I s— What?!"

"Kidding…!," the pink-bow-wearing she-penguin said, giggling quietly as she did so.

"Oh. 'Cuz… You know… Phew! I thought for a second that you were… Ack! … Just… **Ugh**…!"

"Yeah… They c'n be like that sometimes… … Well… **Most** 'f th' time…," Ali said, smiling, but then she frowned and continued. "B't they're all th' fam'ly I've **got**…"

Marlene looked up at the she-penguin.

Ali sadly held her gaze with the ground, lost in her memories. She blinked a few times and popped back up to her regular, pleasant self. "Well! I gotta get'tuh bed! You know wh' Skipper said! Recon at 0600! Night, guys!" She waved, getting half-hearted waves in response from her 'family' and a saddened over-the-shoulder glance from her new friend.

Ali smiled and shook her head at Des and Cori battling it out with sticks, Shadow interfering by yanking the 'weapons' out of their flippers and breaking them in two.

"Aw…," Des and Cori moaned. "Why're you so **mean**…?"

"'Cuz it's fun."

"Nyeh," the two shortest she-penguins said in unison.

Shadow waved off the insult with a toss of her torn flipper and asked Marlene, "So where're we gonna sleep?"

"Well…"

"**I'm** over **here**…!," Ali commented, raising her flipper as she laid, belly-up, on a rock.

The dark-brown-feathered she-penguin looked at her friend's position. "That works," she stated simply, waddling past Marlene and over to Ali, jumping onto a rock, landing in the same pose as her long-feathered friend.

"You guys gonna get some sleep, too…?," a quiet voice from on top of a rock asked.

"Nah. I'm good. How 'bout **you**, Des? You—" Cori looked down to see her cousin curled up in a ball, snoozing away. "… Nevermind…"

"Aren't **you** gonna get some rest, Cori?," Marlene asked.

"Nah. I'm good. I c'n stay up'all night."

"And still be fine in the morning…?," the otter asked, confused and amazed.

"Well… That's only if I get 't least 3 hours uh sleep…"

"What…?"

"Yeah," Cori replied. "Hey. You got'a'book I cou'd read…?"

"You can… **read**…?," Marlene asked, eyes wide.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Uh… No… N-no reason…," the otter stuttered, realizing that her 'Adia' was no longer safe. The chimps were the only ones (other than her) fluent in the written English language, but they weren't stealthy enough to even find it, let alone take it. Now that there was another in the zoo who could read, her inner-most thoughts were in trouble.

"Marlene…? Mar-**lee**-eene…!," Cori called, waving a flipper in front of the otter's face to snap her out of her daze.

The marine mammal's head shook to bring the animal back to the real world. "Sorry. I guess I need some sleep, ya know?"

Cori's head tilted as she answered, "… Uh… Okay…"

"Night, guys!"

A low and hostile-sounding grumble from Shadow.

A barely audible "Mm-hm…!" from Ali.

A loud snore from Des.

A "Nighty-night!" from Cori.

Marlene nervously smiled as she walked to her bed. She jumped in and snuggled into herself, falling asleep quickly, even though her mind was troubled.

While the zoo snoozed away around her, Cori decided to look at the moon for a little bit.

She loved to spot and examine the contours… the dry seas… the mountains… and the rough-yet-soft terrain that seemed like a powdered donut hole from where she sat.

Cori sighed, enjoying the tranquility (her surroundings **and** the Sea of…). It was all so beautiful…

… But… that got boring after an hour or two, so she pulled out her sketch pad and a black mini mechanical pencil.

Cori doodled a few things, like swirls and smiley faces, then her eyes lit up and her beak curled into a giant 'Eureka!' smile as she thought of an idea for a project and began focusing intently.

She kept at it for the next few hours, switching her position constantly. She went from sitting to lying on her belly to leaning against a wall. The artistic she-penguin finally settled on sitting at the edge of the water, the tips of her webbed feet just dipped past the surface, creating little ripples as she moved them back and forth.

Cori looked up from her drawing when she heard a noise.

"Mm… No, you can't have…"

She turned to the source and found that Marlene was sleeptalking.

"No… No diary… You… You can't have… Nygh…," the otter muttered.

"…**Diary**…?," Cori whispered to herself.

"No! … No… No diary for you…"

"Hm…," Corinne uttered, tapping her chin with her right flipper in thought. "'F I were a diary… where wou'd I be…?"

"Under pillow…"

The she-penguin looked surprised at the otter. "Huh. Well **tha'**was easy…" She slowly reached under Marlene's pillow, careful not to disturb the slumbering mammal, and pulled out a book made of scavenged papers. The covers were colored lime green and had hot pink flowers all over it. Scrawled in the middle was 'Adia'.

"… Uh… Who names'a diary '**Adia'**…? Ah well. She's a mammal. It's okay, I guess…" Corinne knew she wasn't supposed to be doing this, so she sat under the slide and began reading through the pages. "'Day 1. hey, Adia. i can't believe i act'ally found uh-nuff stuff tuh make you with! amazing, i know.'" Cori sighed. "**Bohhh**-riiing… Where's th' **juicy** stuff…?," she asked herself, beginning to flip through the pages.

"'Day 2. i h've seen that—' **Next**… 'Day 5. i h've found that I don't like classic'l music.' Sorry, b' no one cares…"

This went on until something caught her eye.

"Ooh…! Wha'do'we'got **here**…?" Corinne opened it wider so that she could read the entry. "'Day 23. i watched skipper trainin' again today. he w's so cute when 'e karate-chopped th' bowlin' pin. oh. wait. sorry. i mean, 'ninjas', like he calls 'em, even though the 'little faces on 'em' were just sharpie…' Ooh-hoo-**hoo**! I think th' **love** **bug** has bitten its first victim…!"

Cori closed the book and tiptoed back into the holt, making sure not to wake anyone. She slid the diary back under Marlene's pillowcase exactly how it was before: the top-right-hand corner folded back and the bottom corners facing outwards from under the fluffy mass.

Cori paused, for she sensed there would be movement.

The otter nestled even more into her blanket until she was completely under it.

Corinne smiled in silent triumph at the fact that she had discovered a secret about Marlene that she could either use for terrorizing and torture or helpfulness and guidance. She wasn't quite sure, for there were many pros for both options.

She crept over to her cousin (who was still lying in the middle of the floor) and pushed her backwards into a sitting position with her own back, both looking like they were seated.

Corinne fell asleep, debating on whether to tell Marlene that she had either read her diary or her body language.

Some time later, she sprung back up to collect her art supplies and packed it all up in a pile next to her as she re-situated herself.

Cori read the clock and knew it was almost 1:15AM. Knowing this, she smirked and fell into a deep sleep.

--

"No… Don't go to… Skipper…! **What** are you…! … … You… **Marlene**…?! I… Uh… … No… **No**! Don't go to him…! … Go to… Go… to…"

"Cori," a voice said.

"Yeah… Cori…"

"Cori…," a different voice, that was soft and gentle, coaxed.

"No… Wait… Don't go to **Cori**…"

"CORI!," yelled a third and aggressive voice.

"Ah!," Cori shouted, sitting up abruptly from her position on her back.

"Wha' w's **that** about…?," asked Des. "It's **3AM**. You woke 's all up…"

"I… I dunno… My bad…," the previously sleep-shouting she-penguin muttered, rubbing her head and looking about the holt. "I w's dreamin' 'bout…" She paused when she saw Marlene looking at her with a very confused and worried expression. "… Uh… I w's dreamin'… 'bout… **noodles**!"

"…**Noodles**…?," Cori's cousin asked.

"Y-yeah… Noodles…"

"You fin'lly had it! The noodle **dream**!," Destiny quoted, trying to lighten the mood. This resulted in her and Cori laughing, Marlene tilting her head in confusion, and Ali and Shadow walking away.

* * *

... Yeah... Feel free to flame. Not much of a cliffie... But I felt like this was the best stopping point before the newbies started talking about their backgrounds and I just told you what the next chapter was about darn it, babbitrulez...! ... Ah well.

--

**BIG NEEEEEWWWWS!!!:**

There **will** be a Christmas Special Bonus Holiday Chapter!

Short summary is below.

Someone special comes to visit the penguins! One in particular... She (yes, a she) and this penguin enjoy an evening together. ... ...Also, the question of "Why do **penguins** drink **egg**nog" will be answered.

--

... The end. Okays. I see you when I post the CSBHC. (By the by, there's no set date for it's release. Most likely in two weeks. ... 'Cause that's when I get out of school for winter break...) ...

Shadow, take us home!

Shadow: ... ... Who says 'take us home', anymore...? ... Whatever. babbitrulez, out.


	3. Christmas Special Bonus Holiday Chapter

Hey, guys! It's Christmas and I finished opening presents about an hour ago. I was just enjoying my many penguin-related presents (my family knows me so well...!) and was hoping to watch my new Merry Madagascar and Party With The Penguins DVDs when I realized: "Holy cow! I've gotta upload the bonus chapter!". ... So I did. Please! Read and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I only own my OC's.

Thank you. And please resume reading.

* * *

**Christmas Special Bonus Holiday Chapter**

**-a Christmas story about some penguins and a reindeer and an otter-**

The eight penguins were sitting on the floe, bored and waiting for the next humans to arrive at their habitat.

Cori and Des laid on their backs, staring blankly up at the sky. Ali watched Kowalski sketch blueprints for a new invention. Skipper was trying to figure out how to use Kowalski's abacus. Rico and Shadow were tinkering with a water gun, trying to turn it into a machine gun that shot sushi.

Sadly, though, Private was moping as he doodled pictures of himself and a certain reindeer on a piece of Cori's drawing paper she had lent him.

Cori and Des came up behind him and looked over his shoulders.

He sighed as he drew a giant heart around the two animals kissing in the center of the page.

The two she-penguins looked at each other knowingly, then smiled, nodding their heads once in unison.

Des sat on Private's left; Cori, his right.

"… So. Looks like **someone's** got a crush…," Des started.

"Totally and completely. So! What's her name?"

Private sighed dreamily as he whispered her name. "Cupid…"

"Cupid… Cupid… Where have I heard that name for a reindeer before…?" Cori asked, rubbing her head.

"… **Really**, Cori? … …**Santa's** reindeer, smart one!" Des exclaimed.

"Ohhhh…!" Cori exclaimed in understanding. "Wait. You actually **met** and **dated** one of Santa's reindeer?!"

"Well… Not 'dated' as such…"

"So what'd you do?" Des asked curiously.

"Make out?"

"Have dinner?"

"Make out?"

"Walk on the beach together?"

"Make out?"

"Talk?"

"Make—"

"If you say 'make out' **one** more time, Cori, I **swear**…!"

Cori giggled nervously under her cousin's intense glare.

"Anyways, so what'd you guys do together?"

"Well… Not much reahlly. I complimented her and we looked into each others' eyes…," Private said dreamily.

Skipper walked up, seeing the young penguin's face and sighed. "The boy's having the dream again…" And with that, he slapped poor Private out of his daze.

The little penguin snapped to attention.

"At ease, soldier. I'm just reminding you for the… first, second, third, fifth… **sixth** time…! No! Dreaming! About! North! Polars! On! Duty!"

Private shrunk under his leader's serious face. "I'm sorry, Skippah. It's just… I think… I mean… Cupid… She… She makes me… And I… …Well… I… I luh… L-l… luh… I luh… I—"

"**EEN-COH-MIIIING…!!"**

And in a streak of sparkles, something smashed onto the penguins' floe. A light smoke hovered around the UCO (Unknown Crashing Object) while some curled up into the sky.

"…Private. Investigate," Skipper ordered.

The youngest operative gulped and slowly neared the 'thing'.

Suddenly, two large, blue eyes opened and Private screeched, jumping backwards and landing in Shadow's left flipper. He looked up at her indifferent face and said, "Eh-heh… Sorry. I'll be… getting down now…" Private hopped out of the penguin's torn flipper and slowly waddled up to the creature once again.

The smoke had begun to clear even more and he could make out a shape.

Private gasped. He knew that figure anywhere! Running to the form, he shouted, "CUPID!!", and leaped onto her neck, embracing it lovingly.

The reindeer giggled and said in her sweet Russian voice, "Hey-llo again, Private."

He placed his flippers on top of her head, flattening her ears, and nuzzled his beak into her warm fur.

Cupid smiled and commented, "Glehd to see you again, too…"

"…Cupid?"

"Yes, Private?" she asked, looking up at his face hovering above her eyes.

"This is… Uh… sort of… awkwahd… but… uh… Would you like to… Ah… Would… Would you…"

"Spit it out already!" Shadow shouted, getting bored from all of Private's stalling.

"I'm sorry. I've nevah done this before…"

"Take the plunge, Private!" Cori yelled, attempting advice-giving.

Cupid was slightly confused at the four new she-penguins, but figured they were just siblings or something of the penguins she had met before in Madagascar. She looked back up at Private, who took a deep breath and slid backwards down her head. She had grown quite a bit since he last saw her –but still keeping her small, innocent figure– and he could sit comfortably on her snout.

"… Alright. Here goes. … Cupid. Will you… go on a date with me?"

The reindeer smiled hugely and enthusiastically answered, "Yes! Of kerse, Private!"

"Yippee!" he screamed happily as he back-flipped off of her nose and onto the ground.

Ali, Des, and Cori produced 3 large signs that read "10", "10", and "9.5" (respectively).

Des looked at Cori's sign and said, "…Really, Cori? 9.5?"

"Well, he didn't perfectly stick the landing…," Cori explained.

"… True," Ali said, then pushed the sign behind her and pulled out another one that said "9.5".

Shadow, Rico, and Skipper all sighed, dropping their heads.

Cupid giggled. "So would you like to leff **now**, Private?"

"Of course!" He waddled up to her and jumped on her back, holding on tight as she sprinkled some 'sparkly stuff' on herself and took off. "Bye, everyone!" he shouted, waving a flipper goodbye.

"Be back by twenty-two-hundred!," Skipper called after them, amplifying his voice by cupping his flippers around his beak.

"Whaht?!" a British voice yelled back from afar.

"Rico?"

"Uh-huh!" he answered, regurgitating a bullhorn for his superior and handing it to him.

The machine crackled a little, but then Skipper's voice could be heard loud and clear as he boomed, "BE BACK BY TWENTY-TWO-HUNDRED HOURS SHARP!"

"Yes, sehr!" a Russian voice shouted back, sounding a little more distant than the British voice.

Skipper handed the bullhorn back to Rico, who swallowed it for future usage.

"… Sooo… … What now?" Kowalski asked his fellow black-and-white birds.

--

Private pointed to a grassy spot under a tree as they flew over a bench in the park and said, "Cupid! down there!"

The reindeer looked down and smiled. "Pair-fect!" She skidded to a stop under the green leaves of the tree. Cupid sat down, letting Private happily slide down her back onto the grass. She turned around to face him and just smiled.

He sat there quietly, grinning like an idiot. The little penguin was just enthused about seeing Cupid again.

Cupid let out a short chuckle. "Private…?"

This snapped him out of his daze. "… Hm? Whaht?"

"Er we going to et or no?" she asked softly.

"… Huh. I nevah thought of that…" His eyes suddenly brightened as he got an idea. "Wait right here!" And with that, he cartwheeled away. Private rolled from tree to tree, finally stopping when he was hiding behind one next to the snow cone vendor.

Private saw a few ready-made cones sitting on top of the cart on a rack and smiled, thinking, _Perfect!_

-

The vendor felt something at his shoe, so he looked down and saw that his shoelace was untied. "…Huh. That's odd…" He knelt down and retied his shoe. When he stood back up, he saw that his two previously prepared snow cones were gone. "… Hey! Where'd they…?! Aw man! That's four bucks down the drain!"

-

The penguin waddled up to Cupid, smiling widely. "Snow cone?"

Cupid gasped happily, then took the pink and red cone in her hooves. "Tank you, Private! Snow cones er my **fehv**-rit food! … Well… besides rehn-deer moss…" She took a small bite of her cone.

Private licked his rainbow cone, but stopped when he noticed something odd about Cupid. He tilted his head in confusion.

The reindeer stopped mid-bite, realizing Private was looking at her. "Wha **tiz** it, Private?"

He chuckled softly and smiled, saying, "You have snow cone on your nose."

Cupid glanced at her nose and, as Private had said, there was strawberry flavored ice on her nose. She giggled and said, "Well **yer** nose ist **grehn**…"

Private stopped laughing, looked at the tip of his beak, and saw that it **was** tinted green. "Uhps…!"

"Ist okay. I will get it off fer you." She licked the lime puddle off of his beak.

Private stood stock still at first, then the corners of his beak curled up in a smile.  
(AN: it was originally purple, but then i realized that the rainbow cones in the show don't have purple in them...)

--

While Cupid and Private were out, Kowalski and Ali were decorating the HQ for Christmas as Skipper searched for the ingredients for eggnog.

"Oh ho, the mistletoe! Hung where you can seee…! Sooomebooody waits for you! Kiss 'er… once for me!" Des and Cori sang to Rico as Shadow messed with the mistletoe out of earshot.

Rico glanced warily at Shadow, then back to the chinstrap cousins.

They nodded back at him.

Rico took a deep breath and waddled up beside Shadow.

"Oh. Hey, Ree," she said, not looking directly at him and still trying to figure out "how the heck" Kowalski hung up the "stupid plant" so she could get it down before that "dumb tradition" started.

Rico gave her a quick peck on the cheek, then waited for her response.

The African penguin stood completely unmoving, flippers still holding on to the ribbon of the mistletoe. She let go, then, open-mouthed, looked to Rico. Shadow smiled, then stopped trying to get rid of the now-non-offending plant, opting instead to nuzzle Rico's beak with her own for a second or two in a grateful gesture.

Ali burst in from the hatch, followed by Kowalski. She dropped to the floor with a brown leather bag in her flippers. "Guys! Look wha'we found!"

"Yes! We were just up top, getting ready to hang the garland on the fence posts when we found… **this**…!" Kowalski held up his flippers, dramatically pointing to the pouch in Ali's flippers.

Skipper waddled up to the two as he asked, "So… what's inside?"

"Y'know… That looks s'spiciously like **Cupid's** bag…" Cori noted, rubbing the bottom of her beak with her right flipper and raising one eyebrow.

"… This's true…," Ali said softly.

"So what's inside?" Shadow asked, walking towards the tallest birds, Rico by her side.

Kowalski paused, eyes wide. He looked around warily, then grimaced. He took the bag from Ali, chuckled nervously, and peeked inside the pouch. His eyebrows flew up as his face seemed to glisten. Kowalski shut the bag and, his face not shining anymore, blinked a few times. "… Um… Skipper? Do you remember the, uh… 'sparkly stuff'…? The stuff we used to fly around the world that Christmas Eve in Madagascar?"

Shadow raised an eyebrow.

Rico whispered "Long story." to her and she nodded in understanding.

"… Yeaaaah…," Skipper drawled. "… Why?"

"Well…" Kowalski opened the pouch and tilted it so that the sparkles twinkled onto Skipper's face. "… That's what's inside."

The flat-topped penguin looked inside the bag. Looking over the leather edge of the bag at Kowalski, he asked, "… So… what do we do with this? It's as useful to us as a steamed lobster is to a blade of grass."

"Ooh! Ooh!" Cori exclaimed, she and her cousin with both their flippers waving in the air.

"We have 'n idea!" Des called.

"…"

Skipper glanced at Kowalski out of the corner of his eye before looking back to Cori and Des. "… Uh… … Alright…"

"Yay!" Des said excitedly.

"So here's wha'we were thinkin'…," Cori started.

-

"Weee!"

"Wahooo!!"

The animals were enjoying themselves greatly as they soared through the zoo, the sparkles they were covered in glittering in the early evening sun. … Well…

"Waaaahhhh…!!"

"Wah-hah-hahaaaaah…!"

… Everyone other than Cori and Des, that is. The two were scared, yet somehow they were still both thinking happy thoughts somewhere in the back of their heads.

--

Cupid and Private sat under the tree, watching the evening sky. They had finished their snow-cones a few minutes ago and Private skillfully threw away the paper by tossing it into the trashcan a few yards away without getting up.

Cupid admired this for a moment by smiling and chuckling softly, then laid on her stomach. She crossed her front legs and set her head on them, looking up at the butterflies and moths flitting about the park.

Private leaned his back against Cupid's side, laying his flippers on his belly and smiling lovingly at the reindeer he was on a date with.

"Hey. Private?" asked an unmoving Cupid.

"Yes?" answered Private, still looking at her, but not stirring from his spot.

She lifted her head and looked over her shoulder at the penguin, saying, "Would you like to go flying vit' me, Private?"

He sat up, supporting himself with his flippers and smiled, happily replying, "Of course, Cupid! Thaht sounds like fun!"

Cupid nodded briskly. She grabbed the scruff of Private's neck with her mouth and tossed him up onto her back as she stood up on all fours.

As Cupid reared, Private shouted "Hi-ho silvah…!!" and shimmied up to her neck.

And with that, Cupid galloped towards the zoo, Private holding on to her antlers.

--

Skipper, Kowalski, and Rico were relaxing on the floor in front of the couch which seated Ali and Shadow. Both she-penguins were laid out completely on the couch, flippers behind their heads. The other two she-penguins –Cori and Des– had headed to the Zoovenir Shop to pick up some candy. The boys were leaning their backs against the couch, crossing their flippers over their chests. All five birds were watching television, just unwinding after their flight.

--

Luckily, no one saw a penguin riding a reindeer to the zoo and jumping over the tall brick wall.

Cupid slowed down inside the zoo, walking to close the small gap between the zoo's entrance and the penguin habitat.

After Cupid had cleared the enclosure's fence and water, Private jumped off and hugged her leg, saying, "Thanks, Cupid!"

The reindeer giggled and said, "Yer velcome, Private."

He let go of her appendage, then looked confusedly around the floe.

Cupid soon joined him. "… Hm. I could've **svorn** that I hehd left it here…" She looked to the also baffled penguin. "… Um… Perhaps the zookeepur took it?"

"No…," Private said, shaking his head. "Alice does'in clean **anything** ahp…"

"Hm… Well… Then vare could it be?"

Private's eyes went wide in realization.

"… Private…? Haff you thought ahf something?"

"Mm-hm…!" he said, nodding and smiling proudly. He took Cupid's right hoof in his left flipper and began waddling towards the fishbowl.

"What—"

Private stopped her by whispering into her ear what he had figured out.

Cupid's eyebrows went up slightly as she commented, "… Huh. Well. I guess that mex senz, then!"

He smiled as he was pleased with his inductive reasoning skills. Private hopped into the hatch and Cupid poked her head in, as she couldn't fit through.

Inside the HQ, Private said happily, "Thanks guys, for keeping the magic safe down h—" He spotted the almost empty leather pouch lying on the floor, then frowned.

Private and Cupid looked at the five birds with half-lidded eyes.

Skipper, Kowalski, Ali, and Rico smiled lopsidedly, embarrassed. Shadow just watched the teenaged boy on tv turn into a ghost, not even batting a bored eyelash. (AN: … do penguins have eyelashes…? … Ah well.)

"…Did you yoose some ahf the magic?" Cupid asked.

Kowalski and Ali got nervous and they both fidgeted as Kowalski answered, "… Uh… … … Nnnnoooo…?"

"Wh… Why w'd you… …Why w'd you think that…?"

"Hey guys!" Cori said happily as she entered through the metal door, Des right behind her.

As she closed the door, Des exclaimed, "I **love** fly'ng…!"

"Yeah! Me too!" Cori agreed.

Skipper made a quick slicing motion across his throat with his flipper.

Des and Cori looked around obliviously, Des uttering, "… What?"

Skipper nodded his head frantically towards the reindeer head that had a suspicious eyebrow raised.

"… You **really** need'uh get that twitch checked out…," a clueless Cori commented.

"Did you fly with the magic?" Cupid questioned.

Skipper slapped his forehead.

Cori and Des let out a simultaneous "… Uhhhhh…" and looked at each other for help.

"… No…?" Cori said, making the statement sound like a question with a nervous smile on her face.

--

Private had gotten Cori and Des to confess to the fact that the seven birds had, in fact, taken and flown around with the magic.

There wasn't enough magic left over for both Cupid and Private to take a joy-flight, so they decided to take a short walk around the zoo.

They admired all the animals (other than the Julienuary-celebrating lemurs) and had a great time, laughing, smiling, and talking. The two really enjoyed themselves and grew sad when they noticed that the zoo clock said it was 9:45PM.

Cupid sighed and said sadly, "Time to go behk to Etch-Kyoo, Private."

"Yeah… Well ih was fun while ih lashted, Cupid," Private stated as the two of them turned around, making their way back to the penguin habitat.

"Yes. Vahry." She looked down at the penguin waddling beside her and realized that she was walking quite slow so that he could up. Stopping and making him stop too, she said "Huhp on!" as she giggled.

Private looked up at her and smiled, then he shimmied up her front leg and onto her back. Grasping her neck, he shouted, "On Cupid! …Because there's no one else to say 'on' to! … Yeah…!!"

Cupid began walking at her normal pace, which was -and he blushed when he noticed this- about his running pace.

The two made it back to HQ in no time and even had 3 minutes to spare.

Skipper had been standing there, looking over the two suspiciously. "… Alright. You've earned my approval." and he turned away.

"What was **theht** about?" Cupid whispered to the little penguin on her neck.

"I think he **likes** you…!"

--

Private and Cupid were sitting on the floe with the other black-and-white birds, all having simple conversations. Cupid was discussing the effects of reindeer moss on the body and the fauna of the North Pole with Cori and Kowalski. Private was talking about his date with Marlene, Des, and Ali who sat intrigued by his story. Skipper, Rico, and Shadow were going over the plans for the newest weapon that Rico and Shadow were working on.

When a faint jingling could be heard in the distance, Cupid's ears pricked up.

"Do… Do you he'r that?"

"Hear what?" Cori asked, tilting her head to the side.

"It s'uhnded like…"

"Vatch out, young 'uns!," a booming Russian voice shouted.

Cupid quickly looked over her shoulder, eyes wide.

A reindeer a little bigger than her skidded to a stop, landing with his right hoof up and his head held high.

"What's going on here?!" Skipper shouted, getting into a fighting stance.

The smaller reindeer gasped and latched onto the bigger reindeer, relaxing him out of his position. "Dehddy…!" she exclaimed, giving Donner a hug.

"Kyoo…" he said, smiling down at his daughter.

Skipper relaxed.

"… -gulp- … '**Dahddy'**…?"

Private tensed.

Cupid let go of her father and turned to Private. She nodded and said, "Mm-hm! Thees is Blitzen. He ist my father."

"Wait a sec'nd," Des said. "Isn't Blitzen s'posed tuh be **Rudolph's** dad or somethin'?"

"Yes," Cupid giggled. "Leetle Rudy ist my younger broh-der."

"…" Cori and Des looked at each other moment, then said in unison "…Cool."

"Vell, my princess, ist time for you to leff now," Blitzen said, his voice rumbling as he placed a loving hoof on his daughter's back.

Cupid sighed sadly, looking at the ground. She then looked up at Blitzen without moving her head and said, "Yes. Okeh, Dehd…"

Blitzen nodded once, then shook his head furiously.

"Excuse us fer a momen'…," Ali started.

"…but… what exactly are you doing?" finished Kowaski.

"Magic. Once you've yoos'd it long ee-nahff, it starts to grow on you. … Like dandruff."

Shadow and Rico cringed as they said, "Ugh."

"Goodbye, guys!" Cupid quickly gave Private a peck on the tip of his beak and whispered to him, "I lahff you, Priate.", leaving the little penguin in a state of shock.

"Come on, Kyoo!" the elder reindeer called, already floating up into the air.

Cupid fidgeted with the leather bag, trying to get enough magic to last her the full length of her trip.

"Ist time to jet if we vant to be beck before the Claus-meister ist ready to hop to the beat!"

"Oh gosh— **Dehd**…! **Must** you eem-barrass me in front of him?"

"Vaht? I'm just trying to be hip, yo…"

"Oh, please stuhp…" was the last thing they heard before the two deer had flown out of sight.

Rico, Shadow, and Skipper went back to discussing the future of weaponry in their base while everyone else gathered around the stock-still Private.

"… Private…?" Ali tentatively asked.

"Private?" Marlene coaxed.

"You here, little buddy?" questioned Des.

"Are you in a coma, Private?" inquired Kowalski. "Don't blink if the answer is yes."

Private blinked.

"Phew." Kowalski was relieved.

Cori waved a flipper in front of his face and he finally came to.

Private grabbed both of Cori's flippers with his own and pulled her face right into his, shouting, "SHE LOVES ME! SHE LOVES ME! SHE TOLD ME SHE LOVES ME!!" He began shaking Cori around frantically as he screamed happily, "AND SHE KISSED ME!!"

"Th-th-th-th-tha-tha-a-at's grea-ea-ea-eat, Pri-i-i-vate…! No-o-ow can you plea-ea-ease pu-u-ut me do-o-own…?!"

Private paused in his celebration… "…Oh." …then let go of Cori… "Sorry." …letting her flop to the ground in dizziness. "…but I've nevah been so happy in my **life**…! **Wooo**…!!"

Skipper looked at the sky and announced, "Well, if I'm reading the sun correctly, it's about time to open our presents."

"Hooray…!" Des and Ali exclaimed happily as Rico and Shadow slapped flippers.

-

After everyone had jumped down the hatch, everyone gathered around the tree. The girls all sat in a semi-circle around the tree while the boys stood up next to it.

"Alright," Skipper said, picking up a present. He squinted, trying to read the name on the tag, then figured he'd delegate the task to Rico, who could read amazingly well.

The mohawked penguin took the present and glanced quickly at the tag. "Skipper," he rasped.

As the ashamed penguin waddled back to the present he had just held, Rico and Shadow snickered. Skipper snatched the box from Rico and swiftly swiped his left flipper across the top of it.

The top of the box slid off and the sides fell over, revealing a porcelain coffee mug with the words "World's Best Skipper" painted on it in blue.

He smiled as he picked it up, saying, "Thanks, boys. This'll be great to replace that one I got in Danish prison."

Everyone's smile -excluding Skipper's- turned into confused frowns. "Uh…"

"Nevermind. So how'd you boys make this?" he asked, scrutinizing every detail of the mug with one eye closed.

"I drew up the blue prints," Kowalski stated.

"Sculpt!" Rico exclaimed happily.

"And I painted the wahds," Private commented.

Rico picked up the next present as Skipper walked away with his mug. "Sheh-doh," he said, smiling.

She went up to Rico and smiled, taking the box from him. "Stand back and watch how a **real** fighter gets it done," Shadow said, smirking at Skipper, who glared in response. She moved her flippers around the present so quickly that you could only see black blurs. Shadow stopped and stood completely still, her flippers hanging by her sides.

It was silent for a moment.

"Uh-huh. 'Real fighter', of **course**," Skipper said. "I—"

"Sh," Shadow interrupted, holding up a flipper.

The box lit on fire for a second, then fell to ashes around a perfectly clean…! … can of soda. It was almost the same size as she was and was colored a metallic black with a silver skull that smirked back at her.

Shadow's eyes lit up. "Sweet!" she exclaimed happily, grabbing the can and hugging it to her chest.

"But… the fire… How did you…," Kowalski started. "… Nevermind."

Shadow went back to her spot and set down her soda behind her so that she could lean against it.

"Walski," Rico called, holding a box out to the tall penguin.

Kowalski went up to Rico and took the box. He pulled on the ribbon and the box fell open. Inside was a chemistry set with 3 25mL beakers, 3 400mL beakers, 10 large test tubes, 20 small test tubes, a test tube rack, a test tube holder, and a Bunsen burner. Kowalski screamed a high-pitched scream and hugged the box tightly.

Ali smiled a small smile and giggled so softly that it was almost inaudible.

Kowalski waddled back to where he stood before, keeping his grip highly fixed on the box.

"Ali," Rico rasped, handing a small present to the previously named she-penguin.

She stood up and waddled over to the present. After Rico placed it in her flippers she nudged the top of the box up with the tip of her beak, causing it to flip open. Inside was a big, pink bow with an orange pencil wrapped in an extra loop. Ali smiled hugely and placed the bow in her head-feathers in place of her other one. Placing the old bow in the box, she made her way back to her spot on the floor and sat down.

Rico picked up the next present and his eyes widened. He smiled and hacked up a chainsaw.

"What is it Rico?" asked Shadow.

"Yeah," Cori said.

"Who's it for?" Des finished.

"Me!" exclaimed Rico, starting up the chainsaw. He laughed maniacally as he sawed the top of the box off. Rico paused and gasped, turning off the power tool. After placing his chainsaw on the floor, he pulled out a new and improved chainsaw that was blue and black.

Shadow waddled up to him and said, "It also has a leaf blower setting." She pressed a small, red button on the side of the tool, activating the leaf blower attachment. "See?" she said, smiling sweetly.

"Mm-hm!" he replied, smiling as he pushed the button again. "Thanks!" Rico exclaimed, setting the new power tool behind him with his left flipper and hugging Shadow with his right.

As she walked away, Rico picked up the next present and read the tag. "Mar'ene."

The otter rushed up to the present and took it from Rico. Since wasn't into all that combat stuff very much, she simply pulled the ribbon loose and removed the top of the box with both her front paws. Marlene reached into the box and pulled out a small canvas and oil paint set, smiling widely.

"Oh, thanks, you guys!" she exclaimed, tossing the box over her shoulder. "You know me so well."

"Oh! Plus the canvas can regenerate," Kowalski noted.

"Yes. Once you finish paintin' it, you c'n press'a butt'n 'n' another canvas'll appear," Ali explained.

"Great! Now I don't have to paint all over the walls anymore!" Marlene walked back to her seat, holding her new paints, paintbrushes, and canvas.

Rico picked up the next present. It was double the size of most presents, so he figured he knew whose it was before reading it. Even so, he read the label just to make sure. … He was right. "Core. Des."

The two eagerly ran up to Rico and took the present from him.

"Alright," Des said.

"We'll open this pres'nt like ladies," Cori remarked.

"Daintily…"

"…maturely…"

"…and…"

"… … Now!"

On Cori's signal, the two attacked the present, cardboard bits flying everywhere. They gasped and both pulled out their respective gifts.

"I got a **journal**!" exclaimed Des. "What'd **you** get, Cori?"

"I got a rock," Cori said dully.

"Really, cuz? Or are you just makin' that up?"

"I'm just joshin' ya," Cori said, smiling. "I got a blue portfolio t'store all my pictures in!" she exclaimed, holding up the plastic containment unit.

Cori and Des sat back down with their things as Rico called out the last name for the last present.

"Private…!"

The little British penguin waddled up to Rico, who handed him his present. "Thanks, Rico!" He opened the box with a quick punch from his left flipper and pulled out a butterscotch lollipop. Private gasped. "A butterscotch lolly? For **me**?! You shouldn't have…!" He hugged the lollipop and said "This is the best Christmas **evah**!" as he sat back down.

And now that the presents had all been distributed, all the animals dispersed.

--

A few minutes later, Marlene had just finished mixing up some eggnog and was serving it to the boys.

"Eggnog!" Rico shouted happily, then began chugging his large mug that had a chainsaw-wielding snowman on it.

"Why do you guys like eggnog so much?" Shadow asked.

"Eggnog 's a drink made 'f milk 'r cream, eggs, sugar, spice, 'n' sometimes 'n alcoholic bev'rage such's brandy, bourb'n, rye, 'r rum, traditionally served dur'ng th'wintry holiday seas'n," Ali defined.

"… … … …Exactly. It's just pureed **eggs**. … You know. The things we **birds** hatch from…?"

Cori and Des gasped, their flippers flying up to the sides of their beaks. "You're **monsters**…!"

Marlene looked down at her mug of eggnog and grimaced. "…I'll take some hot chocolate instead…"

"Me too," Des said.

"Me three…!," Cori commented.

--

"Hey, Des," Cori called from across the room.

Des waddled her way over to her cousin, trying not to spill her hot chocolate. "What?"

"If Private 'n' Cupid had kids…"

"What kinda accent would they have?" Des finished.

"Yeah…"

"… Hm… I'd say Brussian."

"… Brush-in?" Cori queried, attempting to pronounce the new word correctly.

"B. R. U. S. S. I. A. N. Brussian."

"Ah. Okay."

"Why are we talking about this…?" Skipper interrupted.

Cori stared at the flat-topped penguin, slightly annoyed. "'Scuse me, but I b'lieve we didn't invite you intuh this conversation…"

"What? I can't listen in to a conversation about my kid?"

"… What…?"

"HA! I **KNEW** IT!," Cori shouted. "Who's the mother? Marlene? 'Cause that's sorta believable…"

Skipper growled from deep in his throat. "I meant I **think** of him as my kid…!"

"… Riiiiiight…," Cori and Des commented together.

"Guys! Guys!" Private shouted excitedly. "I found a note! And it's from Cupid! It says to go outside!"

"… So… whaddoyou want **us** to do about it?" Shadow asked.

"Come with me!"

"…" Everyone shrugged their shoulders and simultaneously agreed to tag along.

-

Private and the others all rushed onto the top of the floe and gasped, seeing Santa, his sleigh, and all his reindeer sparkling as they flew through the sky above their heads.

And they heard her exclaim,  
as she flew out of sight,  
"Mahrry Christmas to all,  
and to Private, 'good night'!"

* * *

So... How'd you like it? Was it good? Bad? Great? Horrible? Okay? Scrappy Doo? ... I don't know. Prince of Persia, it's all your fault! Anyways, feedback would be nice.

And you know what the funny part of this whole thing is? This is longer than my regular chapters and actually had to be cut down to this size. ... Yeah. It was originally **bigger** than this...

...

Ah well.

Like I said to my little brother:

Merry Penguin Christmas, everyone!

(okay... so I didn't say 'everyone'...)

babbitrulez, out!


	4. Lives And Lessons

Hey, guys. Yes, I know. It's kinda late. I'm sorry... Anyways, I'm proud to present...! ... Wait. Un moment, s'il vous plait.

Disclaimer: The characters of Dreamworks still aren't mine... -sigh- Sadly... ... But... if it was, it'd probably have crashed and burned by now, so... I'm now glad it's not mine.

... So... I'm proud to present...!

CHAPITRE TROIS DE NEWBIES! (CHAPTER THREE OF NEWBIES!)

* * *

**Newbies**

**-a story about four penguins… plus an otter… plus four more penguins…-**

**Chapter 3: Lives and Lessons**

It was 5AM when they woke up once again, this time due to a wake-up call by four penguins.

They had all jumped into the enclosure, Skipper shouting, "Rise and shine!"

All five female animals groaned and covered their ears.

"Come **on**, you lazybones! Time for your lessons!"

"Nygh…"

"Nyegh…"

"Grrr…"

"Eh…?"

"Nn… Skipper…?" Marlene was the only one who made an actual word of some sort.

"Marlene. Could you **please** wake up all your girly-girl friends…?," he asked, slightly aggravated.

She sat up in her bed and stretched her arms as she yawned. Then jumped off and went over to Ali. Marlene shook her shoulder a little bit and said, "Ali…! **Aaaaa**-liiiii…! … Ali!"

Finally the she-penguin's eyes slowly opened. "Mmwhat…?"

"Wake up."

"Oh. … I guess I should wake up th'others, then…"

"Uh… **I** was going to, but okay."

"S'alright. I'm good. I've done th's'every day wh'n'all the lights came on thirty minutes prior t'opening time. I c'n handle it."

"… Alright…"

"B'sides. 'T's really easy. Watch." Ali turned to Shadow and poked her back.

Shadow emitted a low growl.

"Shaaaay-deeee…!," she whispered almost inaudibly.

The African penguin sat up and barked (an amazing feat for a penguin…!), then noticed Ali pointing nonchalantly at Des and Cori. Shadow sharply turned her head and lunged at the two snoozing she-penguins. "**Nyargh**!"

"Ah!," screamed Cori and Des in unison as they were woken up (like usual) by an attack.

"… And you do this **every** morning…?," Marlene asked Ali. She was answered with a single "Yup."

--

After everyone had gotten into the penguin enclosure, Skipper made an announcement.

"Alright, everyone. All of you have a job to do. Private. You're on swimming lessons duty."

Cori and Des giggled softly and whispered to each other, "'Duty'…"

Shadow closed her eyes, dropped her head, and sighed in annoyance and disbelief all at the same time.

"As I was **saying**…," Skipper started. "Private's on swimming lessons…" He paused, noticing the two cousins anticipating his next word. "… You're responsible for swimming lessons."

The two glasses-wearing she-penguins drooped, making Shadow smirk.

"Yes, sir, Skippah, sir!"

"Kowalski, you work with Ali and try to find a quicker way to get these girls back home."

The tall penguin gave a curt nod, then blushed when he noticed Ali smiling at him.

"Rico. Weapons inventory."

"Ooh! Can I help?!"

"Uh… Sure… Okay."

"Great," Shadow remarked, latching onto Rico's right flipper. Surprisingly, he didn't push her away. Instead, he just smiled happily at her.

"And what about me?"

"Marlene, **you're** not a part of this organization…!," Skipper declared.

"Well, **they're** not! So why do **they** get jobs, huh…?"

"That's… Uh… That's because…"

"That's because we're an elite force," Ali stated softly, causing the four penguins (plus Marlene) to look at her skeptically.

"It's true!," Cori exclaimed.

"Reahlly…?," Private asked.

"Mm-hm!," Des answered, nodding her head vigorously.

Everyone was speechless until Skipper boomed, "Everybody to your duties!", making Cori and Des giggle once again.

--

Everyone had divided into their groups to do their… (giggle…) **duties**…

Kowalski and Ali were at a portable lab table inside the HQ, working on calculations and scenarios.

Shadow had a checklist on one of Kowalski's spare clipboards, checking off items that Rico regurgitated onto the concrete next to the penguin habitat.

Private was frowning at the fact that Des and Cori were shivering and holding each other yet again.

Skipper, flippers akimbo, was supervising Private's unsuccessful lessons, Marlene at his side. "… Well **this** is boring."

"… So whad'you think we should do?"

The flat-topped penguin thought for a moment, then wore a sincere smile as he turned to look at the otter. "Come on. I wanna show you something." He began to waddle off, then jumped down the fish hatch.

Marlene looked around, then followed. "What is it you wanna show me?"

Skipper just held up a flipper and continued making his way to the large, metal door.

The otter tilted her head, then trailed behind him, passing by Kowalski and Ali who were intent on finding some exact measurements.

Impatient, she asked, "Are we **there** yet…?" when they passed by the kangaroo habitat all the way to one side of the zoo.

"Just a little more…," he answered.

Marlene sighed. "Okay, okay…"

-**Kowalski and Ali**-

Inside the penguin headquarters, Kowalski and Ali were still working on how to find the exact measurements of Shadow without getting beaten up.

"I think we coul' just go up t'er."

"What are you **talking** about?! You **saw** how she woke up your friends this morning…!"

"Yeah. 'N' that's how she wakes them **ev'ry** morning…"

"**Exactly**! She's a **hostile**! She needs to be **dealt** with like a hostile."

"She's **not** a host'le, she's just… '**c'mpassionat'ly** chall'ng'd'…"

"… Right…"

"Look…," Ali sighed, sitting down and leaning against a wall. "Th's isn't getting us anywhere…"

"…You're right," Kowalski agreed, taking the same position as Ali (just in a different place).

"… So wha'sh'll we c'nverse about…?"

"Um… How about… Life? Stories…?"

Ali's eyes widened suddenly, then squinted as they looked down and away from the penguin situated on her left.

Kowalski noticed the sudden change in her behavior and leaned in front of her face. "What's wrong? Is it something I said?"

"… Well… … Yes… An' no."

"… No…?"

The tall she-penguin sighed. "I guess I shou'd start fr'm'th' beginning…" Ali took a deep breath and began her story. "I w's born 'n a breeding progr'm at a sci'nce facility n'Alabama…"

-**Rico and Shadow**-

Rico and Shadow had finished inventory and were sitting around, relaxing, flippers behind their heads and even wearing sunglasses that Rico had coughed up.

"You think we should tell Skipper that we're done…?," Shadow asked, her eyes still closed behind her sunglasses.

Rico contemplated this for a moment… "Mm…" …then shook his head 'no'. "Nuh-uh."

"Yeah… Didn't think so. So whatchu wanna do?"

Rico sat up and took off his sunglasses, revealing his concerned and questioning eyes.

Shadow had a feeling that she should glance at him, so she pushed her glasses to the top of her head and looked at his eyes that told all. "What is it?," she asked, now slightly concerned.

"Eh," he grunted, pointing to the flipper that was still holding on to her sunglasses.

She relaxed her flipper, looked at it, then looked back at Rico. "You wanna know how I **got** this…?," she asked quietly, pointing to the missing piece of her left flipper with her right one.

He paused for a few seconds, then nodded his head, saying, "… Uh-huh…"

"… Well… I guess I should start from the beginning…" Shadow took a deep breath as Rico resituated himself. "I was born in Africa, along the west coast…"

-**Private, Destiny, and Corinne**-

"Ahhhh!," Destiny shouted.

Corinne agreed, screaming, "Eeeeee!"

It was at least the 12th time they had scurried away from the water and the youngest penguin was beginning to get peeved.

"Wha're you two **do**-ing?!"

Cori and Des grimaced in fright and surprise as they cowered from the water.

"Sorry, b'we've been terrified 'f water…," Cori started.

"…ever s'nce…," Des continued.

"…'**The Incident'**…!," they finished together.

This intrigued the little penguin. "… Why…? Wha… Whah happened…?"

"Well we went to—," Des began.

"We shou'd prob'ly star'fr'm th' beginning…," Cori interrupted.

"… Oh. Right," Des concurred.

The two took in a deep breath in unison.

"It all started wh'n we were hatched'n th' Georgi'Aquarium…," Des started.

"Act'ally, she w's born'a few weeks aft'r me. Th't's'why she's so short," Cori remarked.

"Hey!"

"'T's **true**…!"

"Nyeh."

"C'n we **c'ntinue**? We have'n **audience**…!"

"… **Fine**," Des grumbled, her flippers crossed. "Like I w's saying… It all started wh'n we were hatched'n th' Georgi'Aquarium…"

-**Skipper and Marlene**-

Marlene tilted her head, one eyebrow raised in confusion. She watched as the penguin in front of her rummaged through a bush.

Skipper was grumbling, then finally jumped into the mini-tree, rustling the leaves as he continued his search.

"Uh… Skipper?," the otter asked, crossing her arms. "What exactly are you—?"

"Ah-**hah**!" Skipper wiggled backwards out of the shrubbery and turned to Marlene when he stood up again. "I found it," he stated with a proud smile, holding something in his flippers behind his back.

"What exactly is… '**it'**…?"

He smiled again, following the path of his flippers with his eyes as they came from around his back and reached out to the otter, revealing the fact that a smooth, round stone was located in them.

She looked down at it questioningly. "… My question still stands… What exactly **is** 'it'…?"

"Well… back when I was a chick, Rico told me that **this** was the love stone that brought my parents together." He paused for a couple seconds, "…" then took the plunge. "… I want **you** to have it."

-**Kowalski and Ali**-

"M' parents were put together fer a breeding program 't th' facility mentioned prev'ously, th' good thing bein' th't they liked each oth'r. … They already had 'nother chick b'fore me. H's name w's Phil."

"Like the chimpanzee here at the zoo?"

"Yes. 'N' I also had a li'l brother name' Willy…"

"And… And what happened to them…?"

"They'were… uh… -sniffle- Well… Y'know how I said i'w's a **sci'nce** facility…?"

Her answer: a quick nod.

"Well… Th' humans have a **sick** 'n' **twisted** the'ry 'bout sci'nce… They feel th't'it's okay tuh… -snif- … tuh perform tests 'n **animals** s'that **humans** won'be harmed… B'wha'they **shou'd** know 's that **animals** 're harmed by it 'n' they don'even give it a sec'n' thought." Ali looked down and sniffled a few times.

"So… What happened to your family to… to cause you to speak of them in a… **past** tense…?"

"M' mother went first. I'w's due t' th'effects 'f a make-up prod'ct. Turns ou' wh'n they'were testin' whether i'w's carcinogenic or not… i'**w's** carcinogenic…"

"She… She **died**…?"

Ali nodded slowly, then weakly smiled. "'A' least she wen' lookin' beautiful'… Heh. That's wha' Dad always used t' say, ev'ry time we mentioned 'er… But… then i'w's Willy's time'tuh go…"

-**Private, Destiny, and Corinne**-

Private sat on the concrete floe, listening intently to Cori and Des' retelling of their childhood. It was just getting to the exciting part, since at first it had all been just happiness and smiles (although he didn't mind it much).

"B'then one day, a **terrible** thing happ'n'd…," Des said softly, full of suspense.

"… Wh… Whaht…?"

"Somethin' happ'n'd… **to our paren's**…!," Cori answered shakily.

"They'were tak'n away," Des stated.

"**My** parents t' Little Rock…," began Cori.

"…'n' **mine** t' San Francisco…," said Des.

"…We never saw 'em again…," they softly whispered together, their eyes and heads facing the ground.

"…That's…! Why, that's **terrible**!"

" Yeah… b' soon we b'friended these two Siberian tigers," said Cori.

"They had th'same fate 's us."

"Sora's par'nts were sent t' Little Rock…," Cori explained.

"…'n' Lily's par'nts were sent t' San Fran," added Des.

"We hung out ev'ry night…," Des said.

"Y'know, just tuh spend time t'gether 'n' relax," Cori clarified. "They have a **tv**!"

"Reahlly? **We** have a telly, **too**!"

Cori gasped in happiness and surprise. "C'n we watch?!," she excitedly asked, her flippers clasped together.

"Uh… Cori…?," Des said, trying to get her cousin back to reality. "We're tellin' a story…"

"Oh. … Right."

-**Skipper and Marlene**-

Silence passed over the two as many emotions were seen on Marlene's face. Happiness, grief, love, sadness, hopefulness, and finally, touched acceptance.

She smiled, looking like she was about to cry, and asked, "… M… **Me**…? I can… I can **have** this…?"

Skipper gave a curt nod.

"But… **why**…?"

"Well… I saw some papers scattered on the floor when I did my nightly rounds and saw that they had fallen from under your pillow."

The otter's eyes widened and she blushed.

"I figured you could use this as a paperweight and keep them all together. They seemed pretty important, what with all the scribbles on them…"

_If only he knew what those 'scribbles' meant…_, thought Marlene, smiling once again. "Thanks, Skipper," she stated, taking the stone out of his flippers and clasping it close to her chest with both her paws.

He gave her another brisk nod, then began waddling away. After a few seconds, he stopped and looked over his shoulder at the otter behind him. "Marlene…?"

This made her head shoot up from the stone, also snapping her out of her daze.

"You coming…?"

"Oh!" She ran to catch up with him, then they continued the path together, deciding to take the long route.

-**Rico and Shadow**-

"My parents were adventurous, mom more so than dad, but that's okay. She rocked. I always was the athletic one… Maybe that's why… Ah well. Our family was awesome. My mom was cool, my dad was usually smiling, and my sisters were always laughing about my addiction to tape…"

Rico tilted his head in confusion.

"Oh. The tape thing?"

"Uh-huh."

"I had this… Well I kinda… You see there were… Well, I was drawn to tape… I don't know why… I guess it was because it was sticky and entertaining… … I really don't know why. It just seemed fun ever since that one excursion on my own when I found a roll of it in some grass next to a barbed wire fence."

"Nn…," Rico said, looking down and nodding his head in understanding.

"Well I found the tape on my first solo outing, but usually, every day we'd all take a trip and just wander around the savannah, searching for useful things and adventure.

"But we were on one of our daily expeditions and happened across a fence of barbed wire. Turns out, it was the same place I had found the tape a few months before. It wasn't much of an obstacle, though. We all slid under it. After a few minutes of waddling into the dense forest, out of nowhere, these people grabbed Mom, Dad, and I, leaving my older sisters."

"Uh?"

"They were hiding behind tree trunks, so the people didn't see them…"

"Oh." Rico made a small, circular movement with his fore-flipper, motioning her to continue.

Shadow nodded. "Mom and Dad were in one cage while I was in another. My mom eventually broke out of the cage and tried to break me out, too, but she was hit with the cage she and Dad had been in, as was Dad. They went flying off the back of the Jeep, my Dad shouting that they'd come back for me." She dropped her head. "…I never saw them again."

Rico placed a reassuring flipper around her shoulders, causing her to look up at his concerned face with a grateful smile.

"Anyways… I escaped that wretched cage after a few days of sadness and thinking. I ended up rolling down a hill and skidding to a stop on a beach of white sand. When I opened my eyes, I saw that I had no idea where I was and wondered if jumping off the Jeep was such a good idea after all.

"That night, apparently I fell asleep too close to the tidal zone, because as I slept, I felt the water overtake me and woke up. I swam around frantically, since I had little to no experience with it and stuck my head out of the water. This big, dark shape circled around me and I became **terrified**."

The heavyset penguin's eyes widened. Shadow had actually been… **scared** of something…?

-**Kowalski and Ali**-

"… Your **younger** brother…?!"

"Mm-hm…," she answered, softly nodding again. "He suffered fr'm carcinogenic tend'ncies also… B'this was fr'm th' cig'rettes they forced down'is throat…"

"C… Cigarettes…?"

"Yeah…"

"Tar… and tobacco… and nicotine… and… and…" Kowalski began to sniffle, too. How could this girl hold all that in? And that wasn't all, either. He remembered the other two members of her family, but decided not to ask. Only to listen if she mentioned it.

"-snif- Phil 'n' m' father died th' same day 's each oth'r. They'were used fer a test o' paints d'rected t'wards younger children an' were fed th' paint every day 't feeding time tuh check fer toxicity. Each day, they got worse 'n' worse. I don'kno'why they didn't see tha'they'were becomin' sick th' first time i'w's giv'n t' them… -sigh…- I… I…" She finally broke down into tears, covering her face with her flippers.

It was amazing how she could have all that in her past, yet still hold up the façade that she was happy all the time. Maybe **that** was why she usually kept to herself and didn't talk often…

Kowalski placed a comforting flipper around her shoulder, pulling her sideways into his chest. He wrapped his left flipper around her waist and let his right flipper rest on her head as she leaned into him.

The flipper on her head was soon rubbing her back in a soothing manner, her sobs becoming soft, barely audible sniffles.

She smiled up at Kowalski with a tear-stained face. "Thanks, K'walski…"

"My pleasure, Miss," he answered, brushing some of her head-feathers out of her large, ashen eyes.

"Anyways, a group 'f envir'nm'ntalis's… PETA, I think i'w's call'd… So they saved me 'n' th'oth'r animals. I go'sent t' the Georgi'Aquarium. Cori, Des, 'n' Shadow were already there, b't'apparently Shadow'd only been there a few days b'fore I arriv'd.

"They go'me out'f my pr'tective shell th't I'd creat'd 'n' we've been best frien's ev'r s'nce."

Kowalski looked down at the floor on his left, contemplating his next words. _"'Nice story…?' No. That would sound inconsiderate… 'I'm sorry to hear that'…? That could work… But it's a little weak. 'I wish I could do more'… That's it!_

"I wish I could do more, Ali, but… I'm afraid my time machine isn't fully functioning yet…" His eyes widened. _Stupid! Stupid!,_ he scolded, mentally slapping himself. _Why did I have to add that last—! … Huh…?_

He stopped his internal admonishing as he noticed the she-penguin in arms chuckling softly. Looking down at her, he smiled.

-**Private, Destiny, and Corinne**-

"One mornin' wh'n we came back'fr'm Sora 'n' Lily's place…," Des continued, looking questioningly at Cori.

"There w's'a huge, wood'n crate. Wh'n th' humans came back a few mins b'fore th' zoo op'ned, they op'ned it up 'n'took out 'n animal," Cori said, sheepishly smiling at Des.

Destiny rolled her eyes and said, "I'w's a p'nguin like noth'ng we'd seen b'fore. She had strange mark'ngs 'n' gauze 'round'er left flipper that look'd really misshapen."

"'M pretty sure y'know who tha'was."

Private nodded his head as he looked up at the two older she-penguins, fascinated with the story.

"We all b'came best frien's aft'r that."

"Th'n a few days lat'r…"

"Ali en'ered th' picture."

"We all came fr'm diff'r'nt places, bu'we're'a lot alike."

"'Cause we're **one**! And the **say**-ame…! We're **any**-thing b't **or**-di-nair-y…!," Des and Cori sang.

Private tilted his head, confused.

"…Sorry."

"We break out intuh song fr'm time tuh time," Des clarified, her cousin nodding her head in agreement.

"So where were we?"

"Ali…?," suggested Des.

"Oh yeah. Ali. Tha's right."

-**Shadow and Rico**-

"It was a **huge** shark. When it first showed its head out of the water, I was frozen in fear, but when it bit my left flipper, my instincts kicked in. I got a giant adrenaline rush, and let out all 4 years of my training on him. … Or her. I'm not really… 'M not sure which one it was…

"Well, needless to say, I won. I rode it all the way back to shore and jumped off, saluting it for a good fight. But… right as the shark left, the adrenaline was gone, too. The huge hole in my flipper was bleeding really badly by then. I collapsed, unable to bear the excruciating pain."

Rico bit down on both his flippers, a worried look on his face.

"After that, I didn't remember much. I think I blacked out, 'cause all I could hear were disjointed voices now and then. When I opened my eyes the next time, I woke up to two short penguins, both wearing glasses just staring at me. And you probably know who those two were."

"Uh-huh," the penguin next to her answered, nodding his head.

"They explained that I was in the Georgia Aquarium. A few days later, Ali entered the picture. We all became good friends, and… the rest is history…"

Rico went behind her and hugged her with his eyes closed, his head next to hers.

She looked at the sniffling head beside hers and said, smiling happily, "Thanks, Rico."

"-snif…- …Yup."

-**Private, Destiny, and Corinne**-

"Ali w's mute't first 'n' would barely eat."

"She had little impercept'ble nods 'n' shakes 'f'er head, b'tha'w's it," Cori explained.

"Buh'we didn't let **that** get 's down!," Des exclaimed.

"It j'st made 's **more** d'termin'd!"

"Th'n finally. **Finally…**!"

"She said'er first! Words!," Cori said excitedly.

"Reahly?! What **were** they?!," asked an anxious Private.

"'I concur'!," Des stated happily.

"… …Huh?"

"Yup," said Cori. "Those were th' **first** words she **ev'r** spoke tuh us."

Private looked down at his feet. "…Weird."

"Yeah," Des said curtly. "B'that's why she fits in **perfectly**!"

"Exactly! Shadow has a weird flipper, plus a bipolar personality…"

-

"… I feel like someone said something about me… Something… **weird**…," a certain African she-penguin said to the penguin next to her, raising her sunglasses. She looked at him as he shrugged. She also shrugged, then said, "… Ah well." She put them back over her eyes and continued relaxing.

-

"…Ali's soft-spoken buh'totally smart 'n' awesome…"

"…Des's funny 'n' crazy…"

"…'n' Cori's tripolar!"

"Th' perfect recipe f'r'th' perfect team!"

"Well… **Girl's** team anyway…"

"We dunno about **y'r** team…"

"Oh! Well we—!"

"Have classified information that needs to **stay** classified, Private," a voice interrupted.

"Oh. Sorry, Skippah."

"It's alright, soldier. Now tell the others it's time to turn in. We don't need anyone falling asleep on the training course tomorrow morning," the lead penguin explained, Marlene just standing there by his side, holding some odd object behind her.

"Yes, sir!," Private answered, saluting his skipper and leaving the enclosure to round up his teammates/friends.

* * *

No, we never got to find out about Des and Cori's "Incident"... Sorry. I'll reveal it later. Chapter 8, I think... I'm not really sure... Haven't gotten there yet... Anyways, hope you liked this chapter. And, yes, Skipper was sorta OOC in this chap. Sorry 'bout that. ... Oh! And there will be a special Holiday Bonus Chapter this month. It's for winter, which... really isn't a holiday, but oh well. Anyways, there will be a guest OC. As for who it is, you'll just have to find out when I post it sometime this month. ... ... Well, that's all I gotta say for now. Laters. babbitrulez, out!


	5. Winter Special Bonus Holiday Chapter

**Winter Special Bonus Holiday Chapter**

Five penguins were all bored inside the HQ. Shadow and Rico were sleeping next to each other on top of the tv. Des, Private, and Skipper were all watching the tv that the two previously mentioned penguins were sleeping on. Ali, Kowalski, and Cori, on the other hand, were watching how exactly the water around them was freezing through a porthole in the base. Cori was recording it on Kowalski's notepad with Ali's pencil for future generations.

A loud THUMP! could be heard from up on top of the floe.

Skipper frowned. "Oh no. Not **more**…! This is just like the invasion of those space squids in Taiwan. They start with one box at a time, but then…"

He began rambling, so Kowalski suggested that they all just go up to check out the noise.

"…while Manfredi and I were battling their fierce tentacles…"

"I… think we should move out…," Kowalski tentatively said.

"…and when Johnson stayed behind…"

"… Right. Move out, people! … Uh… Penguins!," the tall penguin hesitantly ordered.

"… 'Eat laser, you extraterrestrial demon!', he said…"

Kowalski, then Ali, then Des, then Private, then Cori, went up the ladder, each one (other than Ali) rolling their eyes.

As Skipper followed everyone (other than the still snoozing Shadow and Rico) up to the top of the stairs, he continued his story. "…so as I was defenseless, except for the one paperclip…"

-

"…then I celebrated and mourned with a tall glass of whale s— …What's this? A crate? Kowalski, evaluate."

Kowalski whipped out his trusty clipboard from who knows where and readied his crayon to scribble. He then walked up to the crate and squinted, immediately followed by him licking the wooden side. "Ay-ee-ow!," he exclaimed. "Splim-tew! Splim-tew! I gomma splim-tew! A-how! Lat wazza **howwibow** i-lea…!"  
(Translation: "Ay-ee-ow! Splinter! Splinter! I got a splinter! A-how! That was a horrible idea…!")

"Here. Hol' still," Ali said, going up to the freaking-out Kowalski.

He stood still with his splintered tongue hanging out the front of his mouth.

Ali used both of her flippers to carefully grasp the small piece of wood and quickly yanked it out.

"**AH**-**OW**!" Kowalski screamed, his flippers flying up to cover his beak that contained his aching tongue.

"All better!" Ali stated, smiling as she tossed the wood behind her.

"Hm. Thanks," Kowalski muttered. He turned back to the crate and simply knocked this time.

"Who's they-yah…?!" a falsetto voice rang out from inside the box.

"… Uh… Madam…?" Kowalski asked.

A side of the crate fell open, revealing a smirking African penguin holding a crowbar over his shoulder. "Thass **Lawrence** t'you," he said with an Australian accent. Then Lawrence swallowed the crowbar with a gulp.

Skipper, Kowalski, and Ali looked quite impressed.

He dashed to in between Des and Cori and draped his flippers around their shoulders. "Buh you can call me Lahrry…," he smirked, glancing at Cori, then Des.

Cori and Des exchanged looks, then slipped out from under Lawrence's flippers and grasped them instead in one swift movement. "Nice tuh meetcha, Larry!" they said, pumping his flippers up and down.

"Don't wanna sweet talk 'em anymore, now, do ya?" Skipper said to Lawrence.

"Hey…!" Cori exclaimed, she and her cousin dropping Larry's flippers.

"What's **that** s'posed'tuh mean?" Des asked, frown almost identical to Cori's.

"Perhaps we should go inside…?" suggested Kowalski.

"Sounds good," Ali agreed.

"Okay… Wheh we goin' in at?"

Skipper kicked the fishbowl away, revealing the hole that led to their base.

Lawrence peered over the edge of the hatch and looked inside. He let out a long whistle and said in awe, "Blimey! Well if that ain't downright awesome."

And with that, everyone went into the hatch.

The first thing Larry noticed was Rico and Shadow still snoozing on the tv set. He turned to Skipper and asked, "Ay. Who moigh' that be?" He took another look. "An' why're they huggin'?"

Everyone looked to Shadow and Rico and found that were both shivering in each other's flippers with frowns on their faces.

"Awwww…!" Cori and Des cooed, tilting their heads to the side.

"I b'lieve th'y're just huddlin' t'gether'fer warmth," Ali explained. "African penguins don'like th' cold much, y'know."

"Good. 'Cause I don't need my men turning into marshmallows," Skipper commented, disregarding how… 'marshmallow-y'… he had been with Marlene at one point…

"So. Wha're we gonna do?" Lawrence asked.

"Tv?" Private suggested.

"Sure," Des said.

"Affirmative," Skipper agreed.

Private turned on the television and the three of them sat in front, staring at the screen.

"We're watchin' th'water freeze!" Ali exclaimed excitedly.

"I's simply **magical…**!" Cori said, holding her flippers out.

"Yes," Kowalski agreed. "The magic… of **science**…!"

Immediately after that last exclamation, Kowalski, Ali, and Cori pressed their faces against the porthole glass.

Lawrence blinked a couple times, then shouted, "… You guys're a buncha killjoys! You three're watchin' **ice** freeze…! You three're veggin' out…! And look at you two! You two're **snoozin'** on **top** o' the **idiot box**!"

Cori, Ali, and Kowalski were still watching the ice freeze.

Skipper was watching tv, but keeping his 'ears' open, listening not only to the television, but also to the conversations and goings-ons around him.

Pushing Shadow and Rico off of the tv, he yelled, "Get **up**, ya ning-nongs! Be active!"

"Hnh? Huh?" a groggy Rico muttered.

Shadow's head flew up off the concrete and started jerkily searching the room for the culprit. "Alright! Who did that?! Huh?! Speak up! I know you can!"

"…" Lawrence squinted and took a closer look at Shadow.

"Ugh. The nerve of some people…," the African she-penguin grumbled as Rico helped her stand. "Thanks, dude."

Rico nodded once.

Lawrence raised an 'eyebrow' and softly, tentatively, asked, "… Dodi…?"

Shadow's eyes flew open. She slowly turned and looked at Lawrence. Eyes wide, one of her 'eyebrows' raised as she hesitantly asked, "… Rence…?"

As Shadow and Lawrence continued staring at each other, Private whispered to Destiny, "This is even bettah than one of my soaps…!"

Des nodded, smiling. Then paused, turning to Private. Her 'eyebrows' were furrowed and she wore an amused smile as she asked quietly, "You watch **soap operas**…?"

"… Well… Sometimes… I… Look! A buh'ehfly!"

"Ooh! Where?" Des said, happily searching the room for a butterfly. She thought they were so "preeeeeeetty…" (Cori's words).

The two birds of African origin leapt at each other and hugged tightly, saying loudly, "It **is** you…!"

Lawrence pulled back and turned his head to the left, smiling.

Shadow slapped the back of his head…

"That's how she says 'I hav'n' seen you'n a long time'," Des whispered to Private, who nodded his head, watching.

…then turned her own head.

He slapped the back of her head.

They then turned back to each other and slapped flippers, grasping flippers as they yanked backwards, ending their special handshake… … -thing. The two let go of each others flippers and started laughing.

"…I dunno what **tha**'means…," Des whispered, leaning over to Private.

"Man! I haven't seen you in **years**, Rence! How are ya?"

"Ah'm doin' righ' well, Dodi! How ya gahn?"

"Great! … Oh…! Com'mere!" Shadow grabbed Lawrence in a sideways hug so tightly he began coughing.

Rico's 'eyebrows' furrowed as he wore a deep and worried frown at the sight before him.

"Dodi! -COUGH!- Dodi! Leh…! Go…!" he sputtered.

She opened her flippers, letting him drop to the floor. "Oops…," she said, a sheepish smile on her face.

Lawrence rubbed his aching spotted chest as he sat up. "Ah… Jus' like ol' toimes. Jus' like ol' toimes…"

Shadow sincerely smiled down at him and put out a flipper.

"Thanks," Larry said, taking her flipper and letting her pull him up.

Rico moved next to Shadow and seemed to loom over Lawrence, although he was really only about an inch or two taller than the African penguin.

"… Uh… Dodi…? … Who moigh' this be…?" Larry asked, cowering under the towering penguin's glare. (AN: yes, i meant for those to rhyme)

"… Rico," Shadow called simply.

Rico glanced over his shoulder at the African she-penguin then refocused on staring down Lawrence.

"Dude. Calm down," Shadow said with half-lidded eyes as she placed a flipper on Rico's shoulder. She smirked. "He's my cousin."

"Yeah… Yeah, she's mah rellie…!" Lawrence stuttered.

Rico stood down and looked between Shadow and Lawrence. … Now that he thought about it, their dark gray eyes **did** look a lot alike… He held out a flipper to Lawrence, putting on a cool smile.

"…" Lawrence eyed the outstretched appendage. "… You ain't gonna **judo-flip** me, ahre ya…?"

Skipper suddenly flipped up and in between Rico and Lawrence, facing the newest penguin. "He knows too much! Our operation's been compromised! Kowalski! Get the brain drain helmet! We're gonna need a quick brainwashing."

Kowalski immediately popped up with an upside-down colander attached to a bunch of multi-colored wires.

"Woah! Wha'd ah say?!" Lawrence exclaimed, putting his flippers up.

"You know about our operation as penguins of a secret elite force," Skipper explained. "So now we're going to have to relieve you of this knowledge."

"… Ah didn't know that… … B'now that I do… C'n oi please join ya team? **Please**?!" he pleaded, dropping to his little knees and holding out his clasped flippers out to Skipper.

Skipper crossed his flippers and shook his head. "I don't think you have the know-how, rookie."

"Do too!" Lawrence shouted, getting up from the floor and scrunching up his face in distress. He pushed his beak in front of Skipper's eyes. "… Please," he whispered.

The flat-topped penguin squinted his eyes, then turned away. "No."

At this point, Kowalski had rejoined Ali and Cori in their watching of the freezing water.

"Dude, come ahn!"

"**Duuude**… I said 'no'," Skipper said, looking over his shoulder at the insistent penguin.

"Foine then, AJ. You 'nd ya othah soldiahs plus **those** conches ovah theh," Lawrence started, pointing a flipper over his shoulder to Kowalski, Ali, and Cori behind him, "cen go take a hoike fer all **aye** care." He pulled Shadow's flipper up to his side with both his flippers and continued, "Ah guess me 'n' Dodi here're jus' gonna leave by or-selves." And with that, Lawrence whisked away Shadow up the ladder and outside.

Her face was indifferent and no one could tell what she was thinking. The penguins thought her expression looked sort of like Fred the squirrel's; the remaining she-penguins just sat there with their heads tilted in confusion as to why she had never told them about having a cousin.

"Well men," Skipper started, grabbing Rico, Kowalski, and Private's attention. "… And girls without a leader for the time being…"

Ali, Destiny, and Corinne looked at the lead penguin also.

"… It seems as though we've got a penguin-napping on our flippers."

Everyone other than Skipper raised an 'eyebrow', wondering how he came up with that. Shadow didn't **seem** upset…

"Dude, why the heck did you bring me up here?! What was the whole point of this? It was **warm** inside! What is it out here, like **negative 64** **degrees**?!"

Lawrence softly regurgitated a box of Geeks into his flipper when Shadow was ranting and freaking out.

"I mean come on! First you just randomly show up like you did when we were little chicks and now you--! … Ooh! Geeks!" she exclaimed, pulling them out of his flippers and up to her face. She ripped open the top and moved it over her mouth. She paused, opening her eyes to look at Lawrence. "…I'm still slightly mad at you." Shadow once again closed her eyes and poured the small candies into her mouth.

Lawrence smiled. _Mission accomplished_, he thought. _Just_ _like_ _always_.

"… Everybody up top! Rescue the penguin-napped and subdue the penguin-napper! All hands called for duty! Go! Go! Go!" Skipper shouted, enthusiastically pointing everyone to the ladder.

Sighing, everyone went up the ladder, Skipper (who didn't sigh) going up last.

The she-penguins walked out first. The penguins exited behind them, jumping out and striking fighting stances. The penguins relaxed and saw the same thing that the blankly-staring she-penguins saw.

Shadow was leaning back with her hands behind her head as she laid in a small rowboat. The rowboat was, mind you, being rowed by Lawrence, who was whistling a cheery Australian tune. The little oars were pushing the boat over the blanket of freshly-fallen snow.

"Aw man…!" Cori exclaimed.

"Wh't'is'it?" Ali asked.

"We never got to finish watchin' th'**water** freeze…!"

"Oh, get over it," Skipper said with a dismissing wave of his flipper.

Cori and Ali crossed their flippers and stuck out their tongues at the shorter penguin.

"C'mon, guys! Let's go!" Des exclaimed, tugging on Private and Cori's flippers, pulling them headfirst into the snow so that none of them could be seen.

"Sir," Kowalski asked, "should we activate the cold shields?"

Skipper smiled as he watched Private teach the two girls how to backstroke through the snow. Finally. They were actually **learning** something… "… Ah, let 'em be. Cold is **good** for a penguin every once in a while." Tapping the side of his head with one flipper and looking up at Kowalski, he said, "Rejuvenates the brain." He dropped his flipper to his side and returned to watching Des, Cori, and Private enjoy themselves. "…So how cold **is** it out here?"

Kowalski licked his flipper and held it up in the air. "Hm. With the current air flow and wind chill, I'd estimate the temperature to be somewhere around… oh… 29 degrees Fahrenheit."

"Or 3 degrees Celsius," Ali added.

"Or two-hundred—! and seventy—! Kelvins!" Cori exclaimed each time she breached out of the snow.

Des, Private and Cori surfaced and waddled over to Kowalski, Ali, Rico, and Skipper.

"So what 'xactly **is** thi'stuff?" Des asked, she and her cousin's heads tilted in confusion.

"Snow," Rico supplied.

"The precipitation th't happens wh'nev'r ih gets b'tween 30 'n' 40 degrees Fahrenheit 'n' th' moisture in the air 's at a slightly high'r th'n d'sirable level?" Ali questioned.

"Pre**cise**ly," Kowalski said, nodding his head once.

"Whoa! This 's **awesome**!" shouted Des and Cori, slapping flippers in excitement.

"What? You've never seen **snow** before?" Skipper asked, chuckling and smirking amusedly.

"… No. No we haven't," Cori answered simply, shaking her head a time or two.

Skipper, Rico, Private, Lawrence and Kowalski stared blankly at the serious faces of Des, Cori, and Ali.

"…Hm," Kowalski said, breaking the almost-silence.

Skipper, Rico, Private, Lawrence, Ali, Des, and Cori looked at him.

"It just occurred to me that snow doesn't… well… **snow**. in Georgia. That may be why they haven't seen it before, sir."

"Pssh…!" Lawrence said, stopping the boat next to the other black-and-white birds (minus Shadow). "This ain't **nuthin'**. Back a' me **othah** aquarium it snowed roight every **day**!" he exclaimed, holding his flippers up in the air. "**Man**, ih was great…"

"… Well… It seems 's though yer habitat w's temper'ture-c'ntrolled," Ali explained, "seeing as it rarely ever snows in Australia in the **winter**, let alone ev'ry **day**…"

Lawrence shrugged his shoulders and said, "Ay. Whatevah ya say, Sook. No mattah. C'mon, Dodi. Let's abandon ship!"

Shadow blinked once as she stared at Lawrence's expectant and smiling face. "… Whatever," she said, jumping out of the wooden boat and onto the snow. She nonchalantly looked around at the white blanket and smirked at Rico, saying, "Cool."

The mohawked penguin snickered. By himself, though, for no one else really got the joke.

"C'mon, buddy," Shadow said, punching Rico's shoulder playfully. "Get your flamethrower and let's go." Rubbing her flippers together and smirking evilly, she said, "This is gonna be **fun**…"

Rico walked away with the African she-penguin and regurgitated a flamethrower, making her say, "…Perfect. Nice work, dude."

"Alright," Skipper announced. "I'm going in to make some hot cocoa. Sound good?"

Everyone smiled and nodded their heads vigorously.

"Great. Now I'm gonna go ask Marlene how in pickled tortillas to **make** this Eskimo smoothie," he said, walking away. Calling over his shoulder, he added, "And I expect the HQ to be in tip-top shape when I return. You got that, Kowalski?!"

"Affirmative, sir."

"Good. You're in charge while I'm gone."

Everyone (excluding Shadow and Rico) watched the flat-topped penguin head for Marlene's habitat. Once he was out of sight, all eyes were on Kowalski.

"What're your first ordahs, K'wolski?" Private asked.

"… D…uhhhm… … Everybody… have… fun!" he tried.

"Yes!" the three she-penguins and two penguins cheered while Kowalski smiled at his successful first 10 seconds of being leader.

"C'mon, Larry!" Cori said happily as she grabbed one of Lawrence's flippers.

"Yeah! Less go, Private!" Des exclaimed as she seized Private's flipper.

Both cousins pulled the guys into the snow as they gracefully dived in unison. The four surfaced in a few seconds and fell backwards onto the fluffiness.

Lawrence opened his eyes. "Know whah, guys?"

"What?" "Whuh?" "Whaht?"

"… We shou'd make snow penguin ayngels! Ah mean, we ahre olready layin' here in the snow. Whaddaya guys say?"

"I'm in!" Private said.

"Pommy's in!"

"Sounds fun! Me too!" Des agreed.

"Unco's in! … What abou' **you**, Sheila-two?"

"… Hm… Pros… Cons… I'm gonna hafta say… … …100 p'cent awesomely **in**!"

"Yeah!" Lawrence and Cori slapped flippers. "Go Mug!"

"Yeah! … … Wait," Cori hesitated. "… 'Mug'?"

"Uh-huh. It's an Aussie term. You wouldn't undahstand," Lawrence answered, waving his flipper dismissively.

"… Oh. … Okay!"

"Exactly like a mug…," Lawrence mumbled, shaking his head and smiling amusedly. "So let's say we get stahted on these ayngels, eh?!"

"Definitely!" Private said.

And with that, all four of them flopped backwards onto their backs and began waving their flippers and legs all around.

"… Um… I'm not sure howta do this…," Cori uttered, flailing her limbs in a spasmodic way.

"Yeah, uh… me neith'r…," Des added, moving in almost the same way as Cori, just a little less erratic.

"Just smoothly… glide your flippahs and legs on the snow," Private said. "Like me." He was creating a beautiful snow penguin angel and he knew it, but he wanted the girls to know how to do it before he got up and showed it off.

Cori and Des jumped up and simultaneously shouted, "I got it! **I GOT IT!!!!**" The two slapped flippers happily.

Private got up and looked at the two girls' angels, then back at his. Their angels had decorative swirls, eyes, mouths, and even halos. He frowned as he looked back at his own bland angel. "Oh…"

Lawrence jumped up from his spot in the snow. "Don't worry, Mate," he said, patting Private on the back. "Yers 's cool too."

Private smiled up at Lawrence. "Thanks Lahrry."

"Now carn. I wanna be gobsmacked when aye see that AJ Skipper makin' hot cocoa."

Private nodded and the two made their way into the HQ.

Cori and Des noticed this and sprinted after them.

"Hey!" Des shouted.

"Wait up!" Cori finished.

Meanwhile, Ali and Kowalski had a project of their own. A snow penguin.

"So we can use these leaves as flippers, these pebbles for eyes, and this orange snowcone wrapper for the beak," Kowalski explained, pulling out each object from some random place.

"… Um… 'Walski…? I've alw'ys wond'r'd… … Where d's all that stuff come fr'm?"

Kowalski grimaced and looked around warily. "Wh… what stuff?"

"Th'things like yer clipboard 'n' those pebbles y' jus' got out," clarified the tall she-penguin.

Nervously, he stuttered, "Eh… … Cl-… classified."

Ali nodded her head in understanding and went back to sculpting the snow into the body of a penguin.

"Phew," he muttered in relief. Kowalski rolled the head and placed it on top of the finished penguin body. He handed the eyes and beak to his companion, who eagerly placed them onto the penguin head. The tall penguin secured the leaf flippers onto the sides of the penguin body then admired their handiwork. "I'd say it looks quite nifty, wouldn't you?" He glanced at Ali out of the corner of his eye.

She giggled. "… Nifty…?" she asked with a smile, holding her right fist next to her beak.

"Uh… Well…" He fumbled with his words as he began to blush. "… Yes…?"

"… … … … …Indeed. Ih **does** look quite… -giggle- **nifty**."

Rubbing the back of his neck, Kowalski laughed nervously. "Eh-heh…"

Ali smiled, then looked back at the snow penguin right as a small pile of snow fell off the top of its head. "Oh! Here, I'll… I'll get that…"

"Oh. Uh… … Okay."

She briskly nodded once then began her task. As Ali packed in the last bit of snow onto her and Kowalski's masterpiece, a large shadow loomed over her. She looked over her shoulder. The sight made her eyes widen.

There before her stood a six-foot-tall fortress complete with turrets, windows, small places for cannons, a stockade, and an arsenal, all made entirely of snow. Standing on the very top was a maniacally laughing Shadow, her dark gray eyes twinkling as she watched her prey slinking around through the snow. He was trying not to be seen, but from her point of view, that was an impossibility.

A shot flew through the air and a snowball hit the spot right next to Shadow.

She gasped, then her face hardened.

Shadow and Rico glared playfully at each other.

**This was war.**

Snowballs flew back and forth between the two. They were rolling them up and launching them quicker than the human (and most of the animal) eye.

Shadow ducked and rolled, jumping up at the end and tossing a snowball into the barrel of Rico's flamethrower.

Rico's beak tightened, then he smirked at Shadow.

Her 'eyebrows' furrowed as she frowned. _…What's __**that**__ mean?_

Pulling back the trigger on the snowball machine setting of his flamethrower, he launched a snowball. But this snowball merged with the one Shadow had thrown into it earlier, making it twice the normal snowball size and headed straight for his adversary.

The African she-penguin stood her ground as the snowball hurtled towards her. She squinted her eyes and watched it, timing her movements carefully. Shadow leapt up over the snowball and kicked it back to Rico.

"**Brakkk**!!" he shouted, getting hit in the face by the airborne sphere of icy rain.

"Ha-**HA**! I win!" Shadow backflipped from her post on the wall and landed in front of Rico, who was brushing off his face. "C'mon, dude," she said, flippers akimbo. She wrapped her flipper around his shoulder and began waddling back inside HQ. "Let's go inside and tell 'em how well I **whooped** your butt!" she said playfully. "Don't worry. I won't go into detail."

Rico looked at her and quickly pecked her face -making her smile sincerely- as he dragged his modified flamethrower/snowball machine behind him, leaving a trail in the snow.

--

"So. What happened out there today?" Skipper asked, sitting at the table with everyone as Marlene handed out the mugs of hot cocoa. "I figure you all enjoyed yourselves?" He stirred his hot cocoa with his flipper, saying "Thanks, Marlene." as she nodded and sat down next to him at the table.

"Well I dunno 'bou' you guys, b't I enjoyed m'self quite a bit t'day," Ali said, smiling then taking a small sip of her hot cocoa.

"Well aye loiked t'day vehry mach. It was absolutely **bonzer**!" Lawrence tilted his head as he looked into his drink. "Hm. Needs fish." And with that, he regurgitated a fish tail into his mug. Stirring the cocoa with the fin, he smelled the aromas mixing together. "Ah…," he sighed. "Smells roight fine, wouldn't you say, Dodi?"

"Yeah…," Shadow anwered. "Say. Gimme one of those fish."

"Thure," Lawrence said, reaching a flipper into his mouth and puling out one for Shadow.

She took the fish and held it up, nodding once and saying, "Thanks, man." She dropped the fish in her cocoa, splashing stickiness onto the table. "… … Someone should probably clean that up," she said before taking a long gulp of from her mug.

Cori and Des glared at the African she-penguin.

"… What?" she asked 'innocently' as she looked at the two over the top of her mug.

The chinstrap cousins sighed and rolled their eyes.

"Well we made 'r first snow p'nguin angels!"

"Yeah!" Cori agreed.

The two looked at the sulking Private, then guiltily at each other. Each put a comforting flipper on one of Private's shoulders. "Buh'we both think **Private's**. w's th' best." Warmly smiling at a now more cheery-looking Private, they gave him a quick hug. Their eyes flew open. "No off'nse, Larry! Yours w's awes'mely cool, too!" they quickly attempted.

Lawrence held up a flipper and smiled, saying, "No worries, Sheilas One 'n' Two. It was all to help anothah teammate. And that's perfectly foine with me."

"You rock, Larry," the two said, relaxing.

"Ah know."

"So what else happened, guys?" Marlene inquired.

"'Walski 'n' I made a snow pinguin," Ali softly commented.

"Yes. We used pebbles, a snowcone wrapper, and a couple of leaves for the eyes, beak, and appendages," Kowalski added.

"Sounds enjoyable," Skipper said. He then turned to Rico. "And what about you, Compadre? What'd you and The Shadow here do?"

"… Uh… W-well…," Rico stammered.

"I totally pwned Rico in a snowball war," Shadow said nonchalantly as she sipped her drink.

"… 'Pwned'…?" Skipper asked.

"Pwned," Des and Cori recited, "the complete and total shutdown of a person or thing. It derived from the word 'owned' which originated from the word 'own' which came from the word… 'cat'." And with that, the two quickly downed their mugs of hot chocolate. "More please," they asked, sounding more like a statement, as they held out their metal mugs to a forcibly smiling Marlene and an annoyed Skipper.

Sighing lightly, Marlene headed over to the large pot of hot cocoa and brought it to the table. She poured some cocoa into the waiting cups of Cori and Des.

"Thanks, Marlene," the chinstraps said in unison, then continued staining their beaks brown with their drink.

"Yeah, yeah…," the mammal said, placing the pot back on the pull-out stove then taking her seat at the table once again. "So Larry. You like it here?"

"Oh yeh. 'S'all ripper!"

"Well, from what I've seen and heard about you today, Aussie," Skipper started, "you seem highly capable of—"

"Being a part of your team?! Oh, crikey! !!!!" interrupted an eager Lawrence.

"… Eh… I meant you seem highly capable of taking care of yourself. You've got much to learn if you wanna ever join an elite force, rookie."

The African penguin's face dropped.

"… **But**… I think you'd be a good addition to our team someday." He paused and raised his mug to his beak. Looking over the edge, he smirked, and said "Cadet.", then took a sip.

Lawrence's face immediately brightened. "Ya called me 'Cadet'." He grabbed his cousin by the shoulders and said to her face, "He called me '**Cadet'**!!!"

Shadow squinted. "Yeah. He did. … … … … Let go of me."

"… Heh. Roight." He smiled awkwardly and let go of her, turning back to the table.

THWUMP

"**Another** one?! How many penguins does that woman think this zoo needs?!" shouted Skipper.

"Uh… Skipper…?" Kowalski said. "I do believe that it's an empty crate here to take someone away on account of it being a dull 'thwump' rather than a loud 'thump'."

"… The difference being…?" Marlene asked.

"One is softer," he explained. Then added cheerfully, "… **And** it has a **'w'**!"

"Ah," the otter said in understanding.

"Well, we better get up there and see who she's taking away," Skipper said. "I'm personally rooting for Ponytail."

"Y'know, 'm starting to think you don't like me very much," Cori stated, crossing her flippers and raising one 'eyebrow'.

"Gee. What was your first clue?" Shadow asked sarcastically.

"Penguins! I know you're down there! Get up here! **Now**!" the voice of Alice shouted.

"Skippah, we better go. You know how Alice gets."

"How's that?" Lawrence asked.

"Screamy. Loud. 'Noying," Des answered.

"… Isn't she already loike that?"

"Bas'c'lly," Rico said.

"Marlene, you stay here," Skipper ordered. "Don't need Miss Crazy-keeper thinking we've got a hostage."

"Or that there's an **otter** where **penguins** should be…?" Shadow said, slightly glaring at the flat-headed penguin.

"Right. That too. Move out!"

"Wait!"

Everyone looked to Lawrence.

"Ah haven't said m'goo'byes tah Marlene, yet. It's prolly me they're haulin' away anyway."

"Alright. Go on," Skipper allowed.

Lawrence gave Marlene a quick hug and said smiling, "G'bye, bomb throwah."

"… 'Bomb thrower'…?" Marlene asked.

"… Oh. … Yer not Skip's cook?"

She raised an eyebrow.

"Yer. Not. Skip's. W. iiiii**fe**?" he asked slowly.

Two sets of eyes widened in less than a nanosecond and glanced quickly at each other.

"She's not my—!" "I'm not his—!" Marlene and Skipper were talking over each other. "I mean—!" "I mean—!" They finally spoke together. "**NO!!**"

Lawrence shrugged his shoulders. "Alright. Well, g'bye anyways, Marlene."

And all the penguins left a slightly embarrassed Marlene to sit alone and sip her cocoa.

As Kowalski had guessed before, an empty crate sat on the floe, open and ready to take someone away. Alice was hovering over it, waiting for the penguin to enter it. She knew they were well aware of who was leaving (since they always did), so she, bored, left it up to them.

"Well bye, guys. … And chicks," Lawrence said.

"Whaht? You weren't just kidding? You're… **leaving**?" Private asked.

"Well, yeh. Ya **did** know I was just he-ah tah lob in on Dodi, roight?"

"… Oh. …Well… … Bye…?" Private tried.

"G'bye, Pommy," Lawrence said, mussing up Private's headfeathers.

"Bye, Larry," Cori and Des said.

"G'bye, Sheila-One. Sheila-two."

"Farewell, Lawrence," Kowalski said.

"Bye, Conch."

"Guhbye, Larry," Ali said.

"Bye, She-conch."

"Bye… Cadet Lawrence…," Skipper uttered awkwardly, still slightly red.

"G'bye. … Captain," Lawrence said, saluting.

"Bye," Rico rasped.

"G'bye, Bloke."

Shadow smiled. "It was nice seein' ya again," she said, punching Lawrence's shoulder. "Bye, Rence."

"G'bye, Dodi, mah good rellie." He hugged his cousin. "Ah'd lahv tah see ya again anothah time."

"Maybe you will, dude. …Maybe you will."

Lawrence briskly nodded his head once and entered the wooden crate.

"Guh. **Finally**," Alice said. "**Took** you long enough. **Honestly**." She closed up the crate and walked over the plank with it. "How long does it take a few birds to say '**bye'**? **Geez**."

As the zookeeper walked out of sight, Lawrence's entire head and torso could be seen from the side of the crate, along with a flask in the flipper he wasn't waving energetically.

"I believe that's hydrochloric acid he used to eat through the crate," Kowalski concluded. "Only thing is, how did he get it in there?"

"Blorf?" Rico suggested.

"Of **course**! He had it inside him like Rico! Intriguing…"

"Bye guys!" Lawrence yelled, popping back inside the crate when Alice looked down to see why the squawk she heard wasn't very muffled.

"Yup," Skipper said, smirking. "Reaaaaal potential."

* * *

So sorry for the lateness, guys. I've had a whole buncha homework and I'm still not done with it all. If the ending was a little rushed, completely blame and/or flame me. I'm fine with it. If you wanna look up any of the Australian terms used in the story, go to http : // en. wikipedia. org / wiki / Australian _ English _vocabulary but without the spaces, of course. I'd like to give all credit for the Nickelodeon characters to Nickelodeon and Dreamworks, all credit for the definition of 'pwned' to "nigahiga", and all credit for the OC Lawrence to LordryuTJ. And I am exceptionally sorry if I messed his personality up in any way! Well I have school and have to wake up at 5:30AM tomorrow, so night! babbitrulez, out!


	6. Evaluations

Hey, guys! What's up? Yeah, I know I just posted yestaerday, but this it's the first of the month, so... ... yeah. Well, I'm back, and, uh... ... Know what, roll clip!

-"MUAHAHA! I AM KAORI CORINNE DUNN! AND I SAY THAT--!!! I don't own the Penguins of Madagascar..."-

... The end. So you can read now.

...

Go on.

...

Gooooooo on.

...

Why're you still readin' this? Read zee **story**, yah?!

* * *

**Newbies**

**-a story about four penguins… plus an otter… plus four more penguins…-**

**Chapter 4: Evaluations**

The next day was Monday (or as the 'zoo overlords' renamed it, 'Fun-day'). Seeing that no one was visiting the zoo yet, Skipper woke up his men and asked Ali to wake up her 'soldiers'.

"Hmm…? Okay…," Ali answered, rubbing her eyes with the back of her right flipper as she used her left flipper to hold herself up. "Bu'they're not **my** troops…" She jumped out of her bunk. "They're **hers**," she stated, poking Shadow abruptly in the ribs.

Skipper's eyes widened when he saw the tall she-penguin's flipper going from beside her body to Shadow in less than a second.

"Oh. My bad, then."

"S'okay. Ev'ryone thinks that," Ali replied with a small smile as she nonchalantly pointed to the she-penguins in the bunks above her own.

A growl was emitted from the she-penguin behind her, followed by two ear-splitting screams.

**THW-THWUMP!**

Ali just stood there, unperturbed as Skipper leaned over slowly to look past her. He saw Shadow attacking Cori and Des on the ground, the two smaller penguins rolling out of the way as the African penguin landed her jump.

The flat-topped penguin looked questioningly at the oddly calm and smiling face of Ali, who was still looking at him expecting him to say something else. "Ah, nevermind…," he said, waddling away and shaking his head. Halfway up the ladder, he looked over his shoulder and said, "The boys are already awake, so you can eat breakfast and join whenever you're ready." Then he continued up the ladder and out the hatch, sliding the fish bowl back in place.

Ali turned around to the struggling scene and smiled.

The three had paused. Shadow was wide-eyed and guiltily holding Cori and Des by their head feathers. The African penguin looked between the two hanging she-penguins then back to Ali. "Eh-heh," she laughed nervously, dropping them to the floor.

The tallest she-penguin just rolled her eyes and smiled. "Skipper said t' eat 'n' join 'em fer trainin' whenev'r we wanted."

"C'n tha' be **never**?," Des asked.

"'Cuz we don't wanna get beat up by pr'fessionals…," Cori explained.

"I'd **love** to see **that**…"

"Hey!," shouted Des and Cori.

Shadow just smirked.

"Um… Destiny, why dun' y' get s'me **fish** ready fer us…?," suggested Ali.

"Uh-kay!," Des said.

"I'll help!," Cori added.

"Yay!"

"And me!," Shadow said.

"Aw…"

"Hey!"

"…Y…Yay…?,"Cori and Des tried, forced smiles on their faces.

"Meh. Better."

--

"And punch! Kick! Mulch! Spin kick! Duck! Jump! Dip! Chip!"

"Chip, Skippah?"

"Yes, soldier. 'Chip'."

"I… **don't** believe we've learned that move," Kowalski said.

"No. I mean bring **me**. A chip."

"Oh. Well then. Rico?"

The heavyset penguin coughed up a bag of potato chips into Kowalski's waiting flippers.

The tall penguin passed them to their leader.

"Thanks." Skipper opened the bag and pulled out a chip, popping it into his mouth. After swallowing, he said, "Ah. Sardine and vinegar. My favorite." He held out the bag to the other penguins. "Want any?"

"Sure, Skippah!"

The boys reached for the bag, but were interrupted by a feminine voice from the hatch a few feet away.

"You guys aren't gonna have'ny room for Des' home cookin'!," Cori said happily.

"What?," Skipper asked.

Cori just rolled her eyes and said into the hatch, "Bring it up!" She jumped out of the way as Ali and Shadow brought a platter of steaming hot fried fish and set it on the ground in front of everyone.

Des flipped out of the hatch and landed with her arms crossed and a proud smirk on her face.

Kowalski, Private, and Skipper looked at it questioningly. Rico eyed it hungrily. Cori and Shadow were plotting to steal it all, but started hitting each other when Shadow said that she wanted to save a few for Rico. Ali just looked at the plate, her flippers clasped together and hanging down.

"I's my parents' recipe fer fried fish. They weren' there long 'nough t' teach me howta **swim**… buh they **were** there long 'nough t' teach me howta **cook**!"

"Uh… **How'd** you fry the fish…?," Private asked.

"Yes, there's no central heating device small enough to evenly heat them well," Kowalski added.

"Oh. A girl has 'er ways…," Des said, smirking slyly.

"Said girl **also** has a friend who has a lighter," Shadow said, blocking Cori's punch with her crossed flippers.

"**Ahw**-ahw-**aw**…!," Des said, completely coming out of her 'bad girl' look, her shoulders drooping. "You totally ruined the ef-**feeeeect**…!"

Cori dropped her flippers, causing Shadow to do the same.

"Whatever. It's fried fish. Blah-blah-blah… Dig in, everybody," Shadow said.

Everyone except Shadow and Des jumped at the fish and began scarfing it down.

"Nyeh."

"Shmee."

Des narrowed her eyes at the African penguin, receiving only a smirk in return.

--

"Alright."

**BUUUURP!**

Skipper eyed the source annoyed and with one 'eyebrow' raised.

The source, also known as Rico, smiled and waved sheepishly.

Skipper sighed and rolled his eyes. "As I was **saying**… It's time for evaluations of our new recruits."

"**Yes**!," Cori and Des exclaimed, slapping their pairs of flippers.

"Uh… Affirmative…," the flat-topped penguin said, looking oddly at the two enthusiastically smiling penguins. "Kowalski. Debrief."

"Yes, sir," he saluted, stepping forward. "There are a series of trials for you to pass. We have the monkey bars for agility, hopscotch for balance, dodgeball for precision—"

"Sounds like a Kindergarten **playground…**," Shadow interrupted.

"We also have a snake pit, an alligator chamber, a laser beam maze, **a natural disaster simulation, and hand-to-hand combat with our top fighter over a LARGE PLASTIC VOLCANO SPEWING FIRE AND IGNEOUS ROCK!!!**," the intellectual penguin blurted out angrily, starting off at a regular tone, but working his way up to a shout.

The four she-penguins looked at Kowalski with blank faces. All they did was stare and blink for a few seconds.

"So. Who's up first?," Skipper asked, a cocky smile on his face.

--

With a sigh, Shadow had agreed to go first. She had passed the 'kiddie games', the snakes, the alligator, and the laser beams with flying colors. But now it was time for the hand-to-hand combat.

Crossing her flippers, she said, "Come on, Skipper. Let's get this over with."

"Oh no. It's not **me** you're fighting…"

"Then who **is** it? **Rico**? 'Cause I can **handle** him…," she smiled, winking at the demolitions expert, causing him to grin goofily.

"Nope," the lead penguin smirked.

"Then **who**?!"

"Hey! You didn't even **consider** me!," Kowalski protested.

"Oh, I did."

He smiled.

"For half a second."

Kowalski frowned.

"Then I realized… **You** can't fight…! I mean… **Private's** better than you," the African she-penguin declared, bemused.

"Well, well, well. Looks like **some**-one guessed who our best fighter is. Private! Report!"

"Yes, sir!," the young penguin said, saluting his superior with a determined look on his face.

"Hand to hand combat with The Shadow, here."

"You know it's **just** Shadow, right? But '**The** Shadow' sounds okay, too. And seriously. Isn't Private just all cute and cuddly…?"

"He may be cute and cuddly on the outside, but he's 100 percent 'tough as nails' on the inside," Skipper said, resting his flipper on Private's shoulder as they smiled proudly. "Isn't that right, Kowalski?"

After a few quick calculations on his abacus, the tall penguin replied, "He has a 58.3 percent 'tough as nails' interior with a 36.4 percent 'cute and cuddly' exterior."

"S'what's the other 5.3 p'rcent?," asked Cori.

"Classified," Kowalski answered.

"Oooooof course," Shadow interjected.

"'N' that all equals **100** p'rcent **Private**!," Des squealed, running up to the little penguin and squeezing him in a death-trap-like hug.

"Are you two ready?"

Des let go and waddled back to Cori, letting Private jump into a fighting stance and nod his head briskly as he replied, "Affirmative, Skippah."

The African she-penguin was incredulous.

Skipper blew his whistle that appeared out of nowhere and Private attacked, rushing towards the immobile she-penguin…

"Why do I have to be ready for **hi**—"

… and slamming into her, knocking her off her feet.

The dark she-penguin gasped for breath. When she regained it, she jumped back onto her feet and put up her flippers.

Everybody backed off so as to let Shadow and Private have the floe to them selves. Cori and Des hid, peeking out of the hatch, and everyone else (excluding the two combatants) floated atop the water.

"Alright. If **that's** how you wanna play…," she narrowed her eyes and lowered her voice, "…**so be it**."

She charged at the younger penguin who looked as if he was bracing himself for impact. But… Just as she was about to collide with him…!

[slo-mo part!]

…he jumped in the air.

Shadow looked up, disbelieving, as she was still running.

[no mo slo-mo]

She skidded to a stop, then turned around, not seeing her opponent anywhere. The agitated she-penguin swiftly searched for Private with jerky head movements.

All of a sudden…!

"OO-**WAAAH**!" The 'roly-poly' penguin jumped out of nowhere and landed belly-first on Shadow's head. He held on tightly as she spun around and around, frantically swiping at him to get off.

"So where does the…! Rrr… Volcano… Nygh…! Come into the picture…?! **GrrraaaAAAGGHH**!!!"

"Commencing volcanic sequence…" Kowalski quickly brought down his flipper as he pressed a red button and shouted, "…**now**!"

At this, the part of the floe where Shadow and Private were duking it out raised from the pool and became a giant volcano, boiling hot magma bubbling inside.

"Uh… Quick question. How did—"

"Classified," Skipper stated sternly, cutting Cori off. (AN: yay for alliteration!)

Cori pouted, crossing her flippers.

Shadow and Private continued their duel, trading blows and blocking punches off and on, both faring quite well. They were becoming winded and sweat rolled down their faces from the flaming heat below them (AN: even though birds don't have sweat glands). The two breathed hard as they stared each other down, standing on the narrow wooden bridge that had appeared with the volcano.

"And the bridge is— No. Wait. I know, I know. **Classified**."

Skipper nodded his head briskly at Corinne, causing her to roll her eyes and sigh.

The African penguin lunged at Private. As she knew most of his moves by now, she expected him to avoid it by jumping up. She was right, of course, and grabbed his foot with her left flipper. Shadow pulled him close and the two rolled across the bridge and down the volcano onto the concrete floe where they skidded to a stop.

Private was on his belly and Shadow had him pinned down, his flippers held behind his back with her left flipper and her right 'elbow' digging into his back.

"Alright. This match is over," Skipper announced, impressed.

Shadow let go of the young penguin, stood up, and offered her 'better' flipper to him.

"Thanks," he smiled, taking the kind gesture (and her flipper), and standing up.

"You were a worthy opponent."

"As were **you**, Shadow."

"Aw… That's so **sweet…!**," Shadow said, grabbing up Private and smothering him in a hug.

"Uhn…! Uh…! Choking…! Not breathing…!"

"Oops. Heh. Sorry," she said, dropping the short penguin.

"It's… okay…," he wheezed.

"My bad. I try and control my strength but sometimes it's hard…," Shadow said, smiling awkwardly.

"… I'm much bettah now!"

"Really? **Tha'** w's quick," Cori said.

"Well… I **am** a fast healah…"

"Cool!," Des exclaimed.

"So. **Who's** up next?," Skipper asked.

Ali pointed to Cori, who pointed to Des, who pointed to Rico, who pointed to Cori.

"Alright. Two to one to one. Your turn, Miss Ponytail."

"Whaa?! **Rico** can't vote!"

"And **why** is that?"

"Be-**cause**. He's not part 'f **our** team! He's on **yer** team…! An' **plus**, he's not a girl!"

"I—"

"Skipper…?," Kowalski interrupted.

"Yeeees…?," an annoyed Skipper drawled.

"I believe I have yet to administrate the psych screening for Miss Shadow, here."

"What psych screening?," asked the African penguin.

--

"… Oh. **This** psych screening." Shadow was inside a metal box that had a door with a window (so basically, it looked like a tv with a hatch). She narrowed her eyes at the birds looking at her through the glass. After 5 minutes of this, it was beginning to get on her nerves that she could barely be heard by the others, yet they could watch her do whatever it was she was doing without her consent.

Shadow glared at everyone, then banged her head against the window a couple times, trying to gain freedom. When she only succeeded in gaining a headache, she tried a different approach. Turning her back towards the staring black-and-white birds, she pulled out a lighter from who-knows-where and began melting the metal.

--

Soon, only Kowalski remained, for the others had become bored and went off to do other things. He would've left, too, but his superior had ordered him to stay put. It **was** his job, after all, to appraise the psych screening for all new recruits.

--

"This 's gettin' tirin'…," whined Cori as she grabbed an alligator tail and twisted it, sending the reptile flying.

The three penguins stared in awe as Ali just watched coolly.

"I think 'm already down haff a **dress** size…!"

"Uh… **Cori**…? We don' **wear** dresses!," Des pointed out, flipping and executing spectacular moves (that were worthy of an Olympic gymnast's high approval) to get through the maze of red laser beams.

"Oh. Yeah."

Cori and Des were being evaluated (since one wouldn't go without the other); Skipper drew pictures depicting essential elements of their skills on one of Kowalski's old notepads; Rico and Private watched in amazement; and Ali, having seen a display like it multiple times, just floated on her back, relaxing quietly and occasionally taking a quick look at her teammates.

--

Kowalski had turned around to sharpen his pencil (as he had been doodling Shadow's positions for the past 30 minutes, even though they were all exactly the same – the African penguin huddled in a corner, facing the metal walls). "Ah… Perfect," he said, admiring his newly-sharpened pencil.

He twisted around to continue the assessment, but noticed that nothing was inside the 'tv'. All that could be seen was a hole in the shape of a crude ellipse. The edges were burning orange, meaning it had recently been burned through.

_She must have been doing that the whole time, but was just waiting for the right opportunity to escape…! I should've __**known**__… Yet… I __**didn't**__…! … How __**is**__ that…? … … … … … … Huh. … … … _Kowalski's eyes widened as he gasped in realization. "… I've got to **record** this…!" He scribbled on his clipboard then smiled in satisfaction. His eyes enlarged again. "I need a soda!" At the fridge, he realized, "Wait a minute. I've got to tell **Skipper**!"

The tall penguin rushed up the ladder, clipboard in flipper, and jumped out of the hatch. "Skipper! I—!" He paused, seeing two happy-go-lucky girls atop the wooden bridge, dueling a heavyset demolitions expert and a combat-savvy leader.

In next to no time, Cori had Rico in a headlock and Des was crouching on Skipper's back, holding his flippers behind her own back.

"We give! We give!"

"Uh-huh! Uh-huh!," Rico agreed, vigorously nodding his head (as well as could, at least).

The she-penguins let go of the opposition, helping them up, like Shadow had done before with Private.

"I underestimated you two. You girls are top notch!"

"Nn-**nnnn**…!," Rico reminded, shaking his head from side to side.

"Ah. You're right, Rico. You girls are right **under** top notch!," Skipper smiled sincerely.

"… **What**?!," Cori and Des exclaimed, put off by this.

"Well, yeah. Your friend, The Shadow, is **obviously** better than you two. She took down our best fighter!"

"Well, 'scuse **us**…," Des started, folding her flippers.

"…'f we can't beat up a **shark**…!," Cori finished, imitating her cousin.

"Alright. Then you're excused."

"**Ah**?!," Des and Cori asked incredulously.

"I **said**—"

"Uh… Skipper…?"

The short lead penguin sighed in exasperation. This was the **second** time he'd been interrupted! "What **is** it, Kowalski…?"

"The compassionately challenged one has escaped the Psych Containment Unit!"

"What?!," shouted all the other birds in surprise (except for Rico who went, "Uh?!").

"Yes! It seems as though she was working on melting an escape route out of the back of the psych containment unit with a lighter" –Rico grinned at this— "and fled when she had the chance!"

"And what chance was **that**?," queried Skipper.

"Um… I was… sharpening… my pencil…? … Eh-heh-heh…," the tall penguin answered guiltily.

Skipper rolled his eyes. "Alright, everyone! Separate into groups! We'll find this escapee. **No** one goes A.W.O.L. on **my** watch."

"Actually… i'w's **Koala's** watch…," noted Cori, Des nodding along.

"Not. **Hel**-ping…!," Kowalski whispered through gritted… '**beak'**…? (AN: through a gritted beak…?)

"You're **right**! **Some**-one goes A.W.O.L. on **Kowalski's** watch."

"…Sorry'bou'dat," Cori whispered to the now-glaring Kowalski.

"And it's up to **us** to find her," Skipper stated, his eyes narrowed, a confident smirk on his face. "Ponytail! One-eye!"

"**One**-eye?! I have **two**, ya know…!," Destiny protested, pulling back four feathers from her face, revealing her left eye.

"Well. I **never** would've **guessed**— **One**-**eye**! You're on Team A."

"Grrr…," the shortest she-penguin growled softly.

"Keep'ih t'gether, Des. Hey, a' least he doesn't call you '**Ponytail'**…," Cori reminded.

"Enough of the chit-chat, Ponytail."

"Gr…"

"**Coriii**…?," Des drawled threateningly.

"… **Sor**-ry," Cori said grudgingly.

"I want you two to search the perimeter of the Zoo grounds. And here." Skipper hit Rico's stomach, causing a walkie-talkie to pop out of the larger penguins' mouth and into Des' flippers. "Use this to contact us."

"Yes, sir!," the two girls saluted and tobogganed away.

"Alright. Now—"

"Wait!"

"What **is** it…?!?!," Skipper shouted back to Cori, highly agitated. He wasn't supposed to get interrupted almost every time he spoke!

"…How're we gonna get past the water…?," Des asked tentatively.

"Augh!," Skipper exclaimed, slapping his forehead. "We'll get to that when everyone's in their groups. Private and Long-hair are in a group together."

"See? **She** gets a cool name…!," Des whispered.

"I **know**, right…?," Cori whispered back.

"You both will investigate around and in the habitats."

"Kowalski and I will stay here at home base, in case she decides to come back. Any questions?"

One penguin raised his flipper.

"Yes, Rico?"

He launched into a short series of grunts.

"Oh. You're right. I **did** forget to put you on a team. How about…" Skipper looked at Kowalski who just stood at attention, waiting for his superior's next request. Then he looked at Ali and Private who stared back at him with innocently tilted heads. Then it was Cori and Des who were jumping up and down, gleefully waving their flippers in the air.

"Ooh! **Ooh**-ooh-ooh! Us! Us! Pick **us**!"

Skipper glanced skeptically at Rico for a confirmation, receiving a two-shoulder shoulder shrug and a look that read 'how bad could it be?' in return. "Alright. Then Ponytail, One-eye—"

"I have **two** eyes!!!!"

"—and Rico are all on one team."

"Grrr…!," an exasperated Des snarled.

"Rico! Get those two over the fence. **Pronto**!"

The large penguin nodded once, then waddled over to Cori and Des. Rico picked them up and tossed them over the edge of the enclosure.

**THUMP! THWUMP!**

"Ah-hah-how…," Cori and Des whined, rubbing their throbbing bottoms.

"Good work, Rico! Operation: Search and Rescue is a-**go**! **Move** out!"

* * *

So how was it? Did it suck? I don't know. Please say something. Oh. And visit my profile for an update on... well you'll see when you get there. Oh. And I am sad to announce that there might not be a Special Bonus Holiday Chapter for this month. ... -snif- ... Well... ... I think that's it. babbitrulez, out!


	7. Gooey Love Mush! Sensitivity?

Hey guys! Sorry about the wait. Fanfiction was giving me trouble yesterday. Well, here's chapter 5, peoples. And there is a quote from an episode of Kim Possible, plus the names of three authors who I am not sure if they have wives or not. So... With that being said...

Disclaimer time! (like Doofenschmirtz when he sing-says "Backstory time!")

None of this is mine, peoples. I own... somw pieces of paper, a pencil or two, and some stuffed animals. (For example, my awesomely cool parents bought me a toy ringtailed lemur for my birthday!!!! **Obviously** his name is Julien...) Only my OCs belong to me.

Sooooo... Read-aaaaa Las Vegas! ... No wait. Read on!

**

* * *

**

**Newbies**

**-a story about four penguins… plus an otter… plus four more penguins…-**

**Chapter 5: Gooey Love Mush. Sensitivity…?**

Skipper and Kowalski played chess in the HQ with a walkie-talkie next to the board, not worrying about Shadow. They figured she could handle herself, but Rico and the girls had seemed pretty worried, so he sent them off to look for her. And… Private went just 'cause.

"I believe that would be checkmate, Skipper," Kowalski stated, smiling proudly and crossing his flippers.

"Blast," Skipper said. "We play again!"

--

"I'm not sure… if we're gonna find her…," Private wheezed, running after Ali.

"We **have** to, Private…! She's the one who got me tuh talk! We're best friends!"

"…Oh. Alright." The little penguin continued behind the taller she-penguin and both jumped into enclosure after enclosure, seeing no sign of the African she-penguin anywhere.

They asked all the animals if they had seen Shadow. Ali had even drawn a crude picture of Shadow to show to the others. It had only gotten her into a heated argument with a squirrel (over whether Shadow was a penguin or a rock with two leaves and a mop) which Private had to pull her away from. Soon, they reported back to HQ, Ali sulking for not being able to find her friend and Private sulking for not being able to cheer her up.

Once the chess game with the lead penguin and the intellectual penguin was over, Ali and Kowalski sat together, the penguin soothingly rubbing the she-penguin's back.

Skipper decided to watch tv with Private. For some reason, he enjoyed the soap opera that his younger teammate was viewing…

--

Cori, Des, and Rico searched the perimeter of the zoo. Rico sniffed around the wall for Shadow's distinct smell of Africa and shark. Des hunted in the bushes. Cori was scanning the ground from atop the wall.

All were finding nothing.

That is, until…

A black and white blur jumped out from a tree and attacked Cori, both toppling off the wall and onto the hard, unfeeling ground with two sickening cracks. Also, the walkie-talkie was shattered into many small, sharp pieces.

Cori gritted her beak in pain… "Sssss… Ah-hah-hah-hah-hah…!" …then began laughing uncontrollably.

"**Ahhh**…!" Shadow exclaimed in pain, holding her left foot.

"What is it?" Des asked.

"Pain… Ah-hah-hah…! Foot…! -snickers- it hurts so ba-hah-haaaaaad…! Hah-**haaaah…**!"

"Uh?" Rico queried, tilting his head in confusion at the laughing she-penguin.

"She laughs when she's in pain. Me, I just sit there and deal with it."

"Hey! I…! Ha-ha… I laugh when the pain's… -snickers- ex-croo-shee-ay-ti-hi-hiiing…!" She fell backwards. "Whoops! -giggles-"

Shadow rolls her eyes, then jumps onto her flippers. "Come **on**, you guys…!" she shouted, smirking as she walked away upside-down.

Rico looks to Des for an explanation. The most he gets is a large smile that doesn't help him at all. He rolled his eyes and waddled away after Shadow.

Since he was moving fast (AN: to catch up to **Shadow**, yeah! he'd **need** to be!), Des ran to reach the two.

Her severe case of the giggles subsiding, Cori opened her eyes and sat up from her position on her back. She looked around for her friends –and Shadow, but they were nowhere to be found. "Guys…?" she asked to the ground and air surrounding her. "**Gu**-uys…?! **Guys**! … Don't **leave** me…! … -snif- I don't **like** to be alo-ho-**hoooone**…!" She whimpered a couple times then listened again… … …only to be met by silence… … Suddenly… she spotted something of **epic** **proportions**! "… Ooh! An **acorn**!"

--

Back at HQ, Skipper and Private were enthralled in the touching scene on the television screen.

"-snif- Cahn you be-**lieve** they switched **brains**, Skippah…?"

"I **know**…! So… does this mean the wedding's off…?"

"Oh, great. Skip's become a softie," a voice said from behind the two.

Skipper and Private, wide-eyed, looked over their shoulders and saw Shadow crossing her flippers and being held bridal style by Rico.

"Uh… Well, I… What?! A leader can't show his emotions once in a while?!"

"Yeah. Sure. As long as that emotion is either strength, perseverance, or **to**-tal **awesome**-ness…!"

"… You **do** realize none of those were **emotions**. … Right?" asked Kowalski, the penguin who could give a **definition** of an emotion, but not a very good **description**.

"Meh," Shadow answered, shrugging her shoulders. "All eats the same."

"… Whaht?" asked Private.

"Rico, you can put me down now…"

"Uh! **Uh**!" Rico answered, shaking his head no to accentuate each 'uh!'"

"Shadow! You're okay!" Ali shouted happily, running to Shadow and giving her a large penguin hug (AN: that's right. **penguin**, not bear).

"Heh. Thanks…," Shadow smiled sincerely and lopsidedly.

Ali carefully placed Shadow in Rico's flippers again.

And then, out of the blue, a black, white, and green shape fell down the hatch and landed with a smack on the concrete ground of the penguins' 'inner sanctum'. The figure gasped for air.

Des carefully studied the black back of the form on the floor. Her eyes widened in realization as she exclaimed, "Cori! Is that **you**…?!"

"Sweet Australian earthworms!" exclaimed Skipper.

"I know. I'm not sure she's alright either…," Ali softly stated, looking at her wheezing friend.

"No, not **her**! Where's my walkie-talkie?!"

"Oh. That thing broke," Shadow said coolly. "You know, it's not very high-quality junk, is it?"

Skipper glared at her.

"… -GAAAAASP!- … -wheeze- … -GAASP!- … -wheeeeze…- The acorn… is safe… -GASP- Go on… without me…"

"Acorn? What—"

Des was cut off when a shaky flipper lifted an acorn.

"…Oh. **That** acorn." Des craned her neck (AN: a penguin is craning… teehee!) to see what the green was on her cousin. "Um… What's that…?"

"What's… -long, deep breath- What's **what**…?"

"**That…**," Des clarified, pointing to the green lump on her cousin's leg.

Cori looked down to where she was pointing. "Oh. … **That**." Having fully regained her breath, she answered. "That's the aloe leaf I had to utilize as both a bandage and antiseptic to secure my wound after resetting the fractured bone." She paused then sent a fierce glower to Shadow and Rico. "No thanks to **you** guys…!"

"Whatever. You did it yourself, didn't you? You're fine," Shadow said, waving her left flipper in dismissal.

"…Nyeh."

"…Cori…?" a soft she-penguin voice asked. "How did you get over the water…?"

"…" A grimace crept onto the face of Cori. "It involved two chimps, an otter, a T-shirt, a rock, three gumballs, fourteen plungers… and a pay phone…"

Eyebrows were raised throughout the room.

"…Don't ask…," Cori stated, closing her eyes and shaking her head.

"'Kay. We won't. And you can put me down now…!"

Rico contemplated this for a few seconds then nodded his head. He waddled over to the four beds he had carved out the day before and placed her in the one closest to the ground. He then regurgitated a pillow and a cordless hairdryer, drying the pillow and pushing it under Shadow's back so she could sit up.

The African she-penguin smiled gratefully at the penguin face hovering above her. "Thanks, Rico."

"Happy help," he rasped.

…

All was quiet.

… Until Skipper exclaimed, "Ah-**hah**! You just showed emotion!"

"Ah-ah-**ah**…! **Happiness** isn't the same as **sissiness**…!" Shadow smirked in response.

Skipper crossed his flippers and looked at the ground grudgingly.

"Don't worry," Cori smiled.

"She's like this **all** the time…!" Des grinned.

He looked between the two then declared skeptically, "… I'm not sure that's a **good** thing…"

The two she-penguins looked at each other, then back at the penguin leader, shrugging their shoulders at him.

"Suit your-**self**, Mr. **Negative**," Des said.

"We don't **care**," Cori said in her Julien-impression (it was quite good, actually. almost sounded just like him. … weird.).

Skipper burned holes in their backs (or at least tried to) as they walked away, but apparently they were wearing heat shields and didn't even turn around or wipe the smiles off their faces.

--

Since training wasn't an option (being that two team members were incapacitated and another was caring for one of the incapacitated teammates), the penguins decided to invite Marlene over for a movie.

Sadly, though, the movie was PG-13, meaning that Des, Cori, and Private (who were 12, 12, and 10 years old–respectively, of course) couldn't watch.

Ali cuddled up with Kowalski in the back row of the 'theater'. Shadow and Rico sat next to each other in the back row, holding flippers. Skipper and Marlene sat close to each other in the front row, but not too close.

"Cori. Pop me some popcorn, will ya?" Shadow asked, watching the previews intently.

"… Fine. 'T's'not like I got anything **else** to do…," Cori said, uninterested, getting up from the triangle made by her, Des, and Private on the side of HQ where the television screen couldn't be seen. She limped over to the kitchen part of the room. "Toss me the lighter," she said, her head buried in a box, looking for a bag of popcorn.

Shadow dug around in the dark brown feathers on her head then pulled out a lighter, tossing it to Cori.

Amazingly, the shorter she-penguin caught it without looking. "Thanks," she mumbled. "Ah-hah! **Found** it!"

"Shut-**up**!" the other injured she-penguin exclaimed. "The **movie's** starting!"

"Oh. Sorry."

And indeed it was.

\It started off in a chapel, with a minister announcing, "I now pronounce you husbands and wives! You may now kiss the brides."/

\The three men lifted the respective veils of their respective wives and planted full-on French kisses on them./

Shadow and Rico grimaced and held their stomachs as the others smiled slightly.

Private and Des decided to flop onto their backs and stare bored at the ceiling.

Cori was popping the popcorn with the lighter as the movie went on.

By this point… \The minister proclaimed, "I present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Golding, Mr. and Mrs. Pelzer, and Mr. and Mrs. Morpurgo!" This was followed by cheering./

\The newlyweds run out of the church building and into an awaiting limo. They are seen chatting it up with their new spouses in the window of an airplane. An animated map shows up behind a picture of an airplane and red dots pop up, marking their path to an island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean./

\The plane lands and the three couples walk down the stairs and onto the white sand of the island, marveling in all its beauty. The people were led to their hotel room by a hunched over man with one large eye with a tiny pupil and a small eye with a large pupil./

\"This is your room…", the old man said, pushing open the door to a dusty old room./

\"Oh, why thank you," Mrs. Golding said, "Mr. …?"/

\"Wretcher."/

\"…Wretcher. … Right."/

\Mr. Morpurgo spoke up. "Are there any other tenants?"/

\"Oh, of **course** there are," Mr. Wretcher answered. "…But you wouldn't want to meet them…," he said ominously. "Well. Good **ni**-ight…," he sing-songed. He left with a smirk and closed the door behind him, leaving the couples creeped out./

\They all looked wide-eyed at their respective spouses./

\Menacing music played in the background as the word 'GOTCHA!' sprouted from one of the beds, growing until it filled the screen. The picture tunneled through the 'O' and soon a new scene was on-screen./

"Here's your popcorn," Cori said, tossing it to Shadow, who stuck out her flippers, her right 'palm' facing the bag and farther out than her left one which was parallel to the ground. (AN: it's easier to read this part first, then visualize it happening…) The bag whizzed by her left flipper (tearing open the bag) and hit her right flipper, which grasped it and set it in her lap. Shadow popped some popcorn into her mouth with her left flipper, smiling in satisfaction.

"You're **wel**! **come**!"

"Yeah, thanks, whatever, shutup, I'm try'n'a watch." -munch-

Cori hobbled over to Des and Private, falling flat on her back to Private's left, since the space on his right side was already taken by Des.

The movie continued playing and zombies began swarming around the couples on-screen.

Halfway through the movie, Cori, Des, and Private were falling asleep.

Corinne sighed.

"I feel left out…," Destiny stated.

"Right," Private agreed.

"…Wanna go on the computer?" Cori suggested.

"Sure," Des replied.

"Why not?" answered Private.

"…Wait. Do you guys even **have** a computer…?" Des queried.

"Um… no… But we can get Alice's from the office…!"

"Is it a desktop?" Des asked.

"Nah. I think she has a laptop, too."

"Yay!"

"**Shutup**, Cori!"

"…Nyeh," Cori said to Shadow. "Anyways, I think you two should go. I can toss Des over the wall!"

"Aw…"

"But how would thaht work? Then you wouldn't be able to throw her ovah to get bahck…," reasoned Private.

"… Huh. Y're **right**. Well, do you think you could handle this mission on your **own**, Private?"

"I… I **guess** so…"

"Great! So **Private'll** get the laptop!" Des exclaimed.

"SHUT-**UP, **CORI!"

Cori pouted as Des smirked.

--

Destiny and Corinne sat on the concrete floe, waiting for Private to return as the other penguins and she-penguins (plus Marlene) watched the movie.

Luckily, the three couldn't hear, let alone see the movie, for a heavy scene had come on. Everyone watching -except for Rico and Shadow- was sick to their stomachs. The two toughest penguins just widened their eyes, quickly glanced at each other, then looked back to the tv screen.

Ali gasped and curled up into Kowalski when the zombies burst in, ruining the Goldings' tender moment.

Shadow and Rico laughed when Mrs. Golding was turned into a zombie, Mr. Golding surrendering and also getting his brain eaten.

Marlene held onto Skipper at the scary parts, her short claws digging into his skin. He didn't bother acknowledging it, for he was too frightened by the movie to do more than blink and remind himself to breathe.

--

The zoo was closed for some reason, so no one was there to see a small penguin carrying a black laptop except for animals housed on the premises.

The two relaxing she-penguins sat up when they heard a voice from the other side of the wall say, "I'm gonna toss it ovah the wall! Catch it, guys!"

Cori turned to Des. "What'd he—Oof!" She was hit in the head with the black laptop and fell onto the ground.

"… Cori…?" Des asked, leaning over her cousin.

Private swam up to the floe and jumped out to see Cori on the ground with a glazed look in her eye. He put his flippers on the sides of his beak and said regrettably, "Did… Did **I** do thaht…?"

"Pizza, but it's not your french fries," Cori answered from her position on her back.

"… What?"

"No need to bake, I'm as propagandist as the next pigeon," the tallest bird of the three stated, standing up.

"Well, at least she got the **bird** pahrt right. **K'wolski** said he was a **hamburgah**…"

"Quel-as tu parlé?"

"…Oh no!" exclaimed Private. "It's **gibberish**!"

"Comment?"

"Nah, she's just speaking French," Des explained, then mumbled, "Show off…"

"Alors, j'ai **écouté** toi!"

"… I'm sorry, what?" Des asked.

Cori rolled her eyes and said under her breath, "Vous êtes bêtes…"

"… Yeah. Of course." Des grabbed her cousin's right flipper and led her into the base, followed by Private, who dropped the laptop down the hatch.

**THOONK!**

"Oops… My bahd. Did I do it agayn?"

Cori sat up and rubbed her head. "Ah… What happened…?"

Private jumped down and asked, "You don't remembah?"

"Uh… Non. J'ai oublié…"

"Ah! The gibberish is back!"

"No, it's not. And it's not **gibberish**, Private. It's **French**."

"**Told** yoooou…!" Des sing-songed.

"I just said 'I forgot' and you go all **weird** on me…?"

Private's eyes wandered to everywhere around him that wasn't Cori. "…Maybe…"

Corinne smiled and slapped his back as she said, "I like that."

"Ooh! … Yes… Al… Alright…"

"So let's crack this baby open and look up some stuff!" Des said.

"Yay!" Private and Cori whispered with excitement.

--

When the movie was finally over, Des, Cori, and Private were still surfing the web. Cori had 'Miki'ed the name 'Don DiMaggio' a million times, forgetting what movies and television shows he had been in every few minutes or so. Des had looked at videos on TooYube, mainly ones about puppet versions of young wizards or an Asian dude on medication. Private was 'Doogle'ing the word 'penguins'.

A link to the Central Park Zoo webcam popped up on the screen.

"Press it! Press it! Press it!" urged Des and Cori.

"…Alright, then." Private clicked on it, not reading the description under it that read 'Take a look at our unexpected winner for this month! Our Central Park zoo's very own Al…'.

The video popped up and a red-haired woman started singing and 'dancing'. The worst part was when she slapped her own… 'hind parts'…

"Ah! Not **this** again…!" Private exclaimed, covering his eyes with his flippers.

"Ee-hee-hee-**heeeeeeew**…!" Cori shouted, grimacing.

Des, shaking with disturbance, shakily asked, "Does… Does anyone know a good therapist…? 'Cause I think I'm gonna need one…"

… … … … Silence. … … … …

"Checkmate!"

"Darnit! How is it that you **continue** to conquer me in **every** game of **chess**…?" Kowalski asked.

"I don't know. … I guess I'm just good at it," Ali smirked slightly.

"Yes, your talents in the field of strategy seem to be quite exemplary," Kowalski complimented.

"Oh. Well… thank you," Ali replied, blushing. Her tall counterpart nodded curtly at this.

Cori unfroze before Des and Private. "…Let's… look at something else…" She maneuvered the cursor and clicked on a link that read 'Last month's winner!'.

Instantly, a video of Skipper began playing, although these weren't his usual actions. He seemed to be… **dancing**… And a rather… **enticing** one, at that…

"Oh… my gosh! Skipper!" Cori shouted, laughing.

"What is—Sweet breaded tilapia!" He had turned around to see what Corinne was talking about, and saw a video of himself doing his 'little dance', trying to stun his men. "Kowalski! I thought you told me they got **rid** of those cameras!"

"I… guess I **missed** one, Skipper…"

"It **burns**…!"screamed Des, pulling on some of her longer head feathers.

"You weren't there…," Private noted.

Shadow smirked and began to snicker.

Marlene raised an eyebrow at a blushing Skipper, asking, "Huh…?"

"That's so **fun**-ee-hee-hee-hee…!" Cori giggled, rolling all over the floor.

Des threw up her lunch next to Rico.

The heavyset penguin looked at the half-digested fish on his left and said softly, "…**Ee**-ugh…"

"Shut it off," ordered Skipper, having noticed that the video was on a loop.

Rico handed a mop to Private.

"Oh. Dear," said the mop-wielding penguin.

"Eugh…" Des' tongue hung out the side of her mouth. "S… sorry, Private…

"No, it's… it's okay…," the little penguin said, his stomach churning from looking at the grossness on the floor.

Shadow burst into an all-out fit of laughter and started rolling on the floor with Cori. Sometimes they bumped into each other, but it wasn't that often.

"It's just so darn **funny…!**" Cori shouted, holding her sides and rolling side-to-side.

"**SHUT IT OFF!**" yelled Skipper.

"Okay! **Okay**… Geez…" Corinne pressed the exit button and the whole Internet Voyager page closed.

"…Well I think it was actually pretty cute…," Marlene stated.

"…Huh?" Skipper uttered as he realized what she had said, surprised.

"I gotta go, guys. Bye!" Marlene waved and left through the large, metal door.

"… She thought it was **cute**…," Skipper muttered happily to himself.

"… Like **Rico**…?" Shadow dreamily sighed.

"…**What**?"

The she-penguins' eyes enlarged in apprehension and she stuttered, "Uh… I mean… I gotta go look for … **girbles**! Yeah, girbles! So… Uh… … Bye!" And with that, she rushed over to the laptop, opened Internet Voyager, went to Mikipedia, and looked up 'girbles', causing Skipper to slowly shake his head in confusion.

* * *

Soooooooooooooo...? Was it alright? Not too much lovey-dovey or too little? Oh. And if you wanna know what that French stuff says, I'll tell you. ... But you have to ask. ... So I know whether or not to tell you. Was it funny? I feel like I didn't have much funny. ... I don't think I write funny things. Tell if I'm right. ... Or wrong. Because there's NO SUCH THING AS **KING JULIEN DAY**!!!! ... Sorry. Watching that ep. Okay. If you want, go ahead and review. YES! YES! YES! YES! CANDY! CANDY! CAN--! ...Riiight... Byes... babbitrulez, out... (enjoy Bob's guts on me - XD)


	8. Invention Awry

'Ello, out theh! bebbitrulez, hee-ah! Oi'm beck! Ain'tcha heppy tuh see may?! Oi know you **ah**! So! This **ohsome** show ain't moine, sedly. End nay-ow you c'n rayd it! ... Oi'm sorray. Oi jus' **hed** tuh toipe in an Austrayan eccent! Nay-ow. **Rayd ohn!!**

* * *

**Newbies**

**-a story about four penguins… plus an otter… plus four more penguins…-**

**Chapter 6: Invention Awry**

Everyone was bored. … Except for Kowalski. Shadow and Rico talked in the corner while Cori, Des, Private, Ali, and Skipper watched Sun Feasible and her goofy sidekick, Rin Evitable battling a blue character and a green character who sounded a lot like Marlene and Rico (oddly enough, Marlene's voice was sinister and Rico's voice was cute and sing-song-y at times).

Kowalski was at a table and messing around with wires and sheets of metal and hammering away at pieces of Styrofoam.

\"There **is** no plan!" shouted Marlene's voice./

\"**Oh**, but there **i**-is…!!" Rico's voice sing-songed./

\"Spill!"/

"Ali! I require your assistance."

The aforementioned she-penguin looked away from the made-for-tv movie and to Kowalski, blushing slightly. "M-me…?"

"Yes, please. If… If you don't mind…"

\"Nnn**no**."/

"Oh no! No, I… I don't mind at all…," Ali said, shaking her head from side-to-side as she walked over to the table.

\"Why **not?!**" Marlene's voice ordered, firing up a green plasma glow around her fist./

\"Sun **Feasible**. Is not **smarter** than you," Rico's voice stated plainly./

"OoooooOO**OO**OOooooh…!!" Des and Cori exclaimed, smirking and giggling at the two, making both of the tallest animals in the room blush.

\"… Go **on**…," Marlene's voice coaxed, releasing her grip on Rico's voice (a.k.a. Dr. Drekken)./

"…So… what am I helping you with?"

\"If **you** can't figure it out, **shhhe** can't figure it out. Meaning…?"/

\The woman contemplated this for a moment…/

"I'm building a memory suppressor machine!"

Ali just stared at him.

\…then her eyes widened in realization. "**You** just might **win**…!"/

"I'm quite confident that you will find it most beneficial."

\"Oh, I'm **quite** confident about this one, Hergo."/

"Hey, does anyone else notice something odd about the tv almost narrating what we do or say…? … 'Cause it's kind of weirding me out."

"Oh, I **hear** ya, Cori," Shadow said insincerely. "I hear ya."

Cori's shoulders drooped. "Do you **real**-ly?"

Shadow held Rico's left flipper up to her face with her left one and swirled around the feathers with her right one. Suddenly realizing someone had spoken to her, she looked over at Cori and said, "…What?"

Cori sighed and turned around, saying, "**Nothing**…"

"Idiot," Shadow mumbled out of instinct, going back to tracing shapes and pictures into Rico's flipper.

Strangely, he didn't protest; he just enjoyed the strange tingles he got whenever the tip of her flipper brushed past his skin.

Cori rolled her eyes and continued enjoying the movie as Kowalski and Ali discussed the ethical ramifications of a memory suppression machine.

Eventually, it ended like this:

"You'd have to test it on someone else before you try it on me…"

"Alright, alright." Kowalski gave in and shouted, "Does anyone want to test my newest machine?"

The penguins stared at him as the she-penguins (minus Ali) tilted their heads in confusion.

"After the incident from **last** time, no **thank** you," stated Skipper.

"Why? What happened last time?" Des asked.

"Mort grew huge ahnd we had to save him by making me grow too and force him to take the ahntidote."

"And… then Private didn't want to go back to his regular size, so we had to do it by force," Skipper added.

"Uh… Thaht too."

"I'll do it," Shadow volunteered, raising her right flipper in the air.

"Good. I just need to make a few adjustments and we should be good to go." Kowalski turned back to his machine and began tinkering with it, Ali helping him when asked.

Shadow and Rico began chatting, even though Shadow was still quite focused on his feathers.

Skipper, Cori, Des, and Private continued watching The Sun Feasible Movie: So the Crisis.

--

After about 30 to 45 minutes, the movie ended with a tender kiss between Sun and Rin, a sign outside their high school reading: 'The End'.

"Well, **that** was a good movie," stated Cori.

"Not when you're saying **every** line from it…!" Skipper grumbled.

"Hey! **Just** 'cause I've memorized almost the **whole** entire movie after watching it only **four** times, **doesn't** mean it's a **bad** thing when I talk along with it! **I** think it's a **gift**."

Skipper crossed his flippers and raised an 'eyebrow' at this.

Cori narrowed her eyes and angrily shouted, "…'Eat **magma**, Milwaukee'!" then stormed off to Des, who had been playing patty-cake with Private.

Skipper stared, then turned to everyone other than Cori, Des, and Private. "… I'm sorry. Did anyone else get that?"

"What Cori is trying to convey is that she's not very content with you at the moment and is irresolute of the rationale behind it," Ali answered.

Skipper and Rico looked confused.

"Cori's saying she's ticked at you for some stupid reason even **she** doesn't know," Shadow relayed, closely inspecting Rico's feathers on his right flipper.

"… Oh. Fine then. Let her be. I—"

"**Feed** the penguins. **Two** bucks. **Twooo** bucks. **Feeeed** the penguins."

"We'd better get **up** there, boys!"

"Wait, what about **us**?" asked Shadow, not letting go of Rico's flipper even as he stood up to go.

"You girls will stay here. Maintain the HQ. We've got to work you into our routine before you just go out there and make fools of yourselves," Skipper announced cockily.

"Ex-**cuse** me…?!" exclaimed Shadow, squeezing the appendage she held.

"Did you have a public feeding time at the Georgia Aquarium?" Kowalski asked.

Ali began to answer… "Well… No, but—"

"Then that settles it." …but was cut off by Skipper. "You're staying inside until we've fit you into the procedure. And that's the end of it!" He slid into the secret underwater hatch that was used to go into the water without going on land, followed by Private and Kowalski.

Rico tried to pull away from Shadow, but even when she wasn't paying attention and was focused on the game of patty-cake between Des and Private (as was Cori), she was extremely strong. "Eh… Shah-doh…"

"Hm?" 'Shahdoh' turned to him and he pointed out her firm grasp on his flipper. "Oh! Sorry…," she said, suddenly self-conscious, and removed the offending flipper.

"Iz okay," Rico smiled then followed his friends, closing the door to the secret hatch, making it blend into the wall once more.

Ali and Des played patty-cake while Cori pulled out a deck of cards, suggesting she and Shadow should play war.

Ali kept messing up, so she decided to watch tv, turning it to the mystery channel.

Des watched Shadow and Cori's weirdly quick game of war, watching Shadow win and Cori lose badly.

Shadow joined Ali, but not before changing the channel to Animation Network.

Cori and Des took a look around the HQ, being that they had only been inside it maybe two or three times.

As they located each and every thing, they happened upon Kowalski's memory suppression machine.

"Ooh! A **fish**!" Cori said, reaching out to touch a cod that sat on a balance situated on a metal 'table'-top on the back of the machine.

"**Cor**-i…! I don't think you should be **touching** that…!" Des warned.

"It's just a fish…," Cori answered, popping it into her mouth and swallowing it with a gulp. "What harm could it do…?

Des sighed.

"C'mon! Let's go watch Raze Construct Raze with Shadow and Ali! It's the Brains against the Boarders!"

"… Okay…"

--

A few minutes later, feeding time was over, and Kowalski was prepping the machine for a trial run.

Shadow, the only one not wearing goggles, was positioned on an 'X' in front of the newest invention from the mind of Kowalski.

"Engaging start-up sequence… now." The aforementioned penguin flipped all four switches down, causing the machine to…!

…sit there like a dead fish.

"…Hm," Kowalski said, lifting up his goggles and scratching his head. "What could be wrong…?"

"Are you sure you've got the battery in right?" asked Skipper. "The plus side goes to the plus side and the dashy side goes with the… not. plus. …thing."

"Sir, I'm **sure** I— … Oh. … Eh-heh," he laughed, embarrassed. Kowalski reached into the battery compartment and flipped the batteries around, then placed his goggles back over his eyes. "Engaging start-up sequence—"

"Take two!" Cori and Des happily shouted.

"… Right…" Kowalski blushed. "Engaging start-up sequence…Take… **two**…" He once again flipped all four switches, this time causing the machine to spit out a red beam that engulfed Shadow in crimson. "Huh. **That's** funny…," Kowalski said, flipping through his notes.

"What's funny?" asked Ali.

"The beam was supposed to be blue. …It's a soothing color. But the beam is red. There might be something wrong with it, being that red usually means the subject would be in pain…," He then looked at Ali and shrugged his shoulders, saying, "but she doesn't **seem** to be exhibiting any signs of—"

"Um… Kowalski…?" Private asked tentatively, poking his friend repeatedly.

"What is it, Private?"

"You might want to see for yourself…," the shorter penguin said, pointing to Shadow with one flipper and continuing to poke his taller friend with the other.

Shadow's left eye was twitching, then her whole left side. She was gritting her beak together, trying to hide the fact that she felt the stinging, but it didn't last as she let out a loud squawk of pain.

At this, Rico's eyes enlarged and he jumped, pushing Shadow out of the beam, seeing as that she was hurting too much to move. She lay, unmoving, on the floor as Rico was now trapped in the beam, yelping in pain.

"Kowalski, do something!" Ali said, worriedly grasping Kowalski's left flipper.

This snapped him out of it and the tall penguin flipped the switches back to their original 'up' positions.

Rico collapsed next to Shadow and they were both completely unconscious.

Des went to Rico and Cori went to Shadow, both with concerned expressions.

"Kowalski. … Analysis…"

The called-out penguin was stock-still, surprised at the damage his machine had created.

"K… Kowalski…?" asked a tentative Private.

Kowalski grabbed Private's flipper, stopping it from poking him anymore. "I… I'm sorry…"

"It's okay, Kowalski. I'm sure they'll be fine," reassured Ali, squeezing his other flipper even tighter than before.

"I… hope so…"

"In the meantime, we should probably figure out what the problem was," suggested Skipper.

"You're right, Skipper. I should."

Skipper nodded curtly, going over to Rico, Private going over to Shadow.

Kowalski was inspecting the machine and found the problem. "Hm… It appears to be some sort of malfunction pertaining to the circuitry…" He looked over the back of the machine. "…Alright. **Who** ate the fish…?"

Everyone looked around at each other.

"… Nygh… STOP **STARING** AT ME!!!!" Cori shouted, panicking, making everyone turn their gazes to her. She looked around at everyone else and sheepishly smiled, shrugging her shoulders. "Eh-heh. … Sorry. I didn't **know**, okay?! … -sigh…- Des tried to tell me not to and… I didn't listen… I… guess I should listen to her more often…"

"Darn **right** you should…," muttered Des under her breath.

"**Any**-ways… At least nothing **too** bad happened. … Right?" Cori said, glaring at Des.

At that moment, Rico took the liberty of shakily sitting up, groaning, and rubbing his head.

"Rico! You're alright!" Private exclaimed, hugging the larger penguin.

"Eh?" wondered the heavyset penguin as he opened his red eyes in surprise. Rico glared at the offending penguin and elbowed him off.

"Ooh!" Private said, holding his sore stomach.

Rico fiercely stared down everybody in the room, settling on Shadow on his left, who was still unconscious. He had a troubled face and leaned down to her. Rico jerked his head up and angrily looked at Kowalski, figuring it was his fault.

"… I…! Ih… It was **her**!" the tall penguin shouted frantically, pointing at Cori.

Now Cori was on the receiving end of the garnet glower. "Wh-what?! Huh?! I—!"

Rico pounced, grabbing Cori and flinging her against a wall. After the display of violence, he ran back to Shadow, scooped her up, and ran out of the large, metal door, slamming it shut with a resounding **THWAM!!**.

Cori slid down the wall and onto her belly. Rubbing her head, she said, weak and dazed, "I stand… corrected…"

Everyone looked at her incredulously.

"Ya **think**?" Des concluded, saying out loud what everyone had on their minds.

--

He ran past everyone, not caring who saw a penguin with a mohawk carrying another penguin with a shaggy 'hairdo'. He ignored the throbbing pain in his head from being struck with the beam. All he wanted was to get out of this place and find a new home for himself and 'his girl'.

Rico was like a linebacker, plowing through the crowds of people, causing a ruckus of confused, angered, and accusing humans.

Soon he escaped, unscathed, from the zoo that had now become an all-out brawl.

Rico scanned the area for an appropriate hiding spot and spotted a large squirrel den inside the hollow of a tree. It wasn't great, but it'd have to do. For now.

The heavyset penguin climbed the three feet of tree trunk to get to the den, which was quite an amazing feat, for he was carrying another penguin of almost the same size as him, had no fingers, and the only claws he had were on his toes (but those were clipped short and rounded).

He hoisted Shadow into the den before he entered, startling the squirrel living inside. Coincidentally, it was the same squirrel that Kowalski had dealt with before when Marlene and Julien were missing.

"What are **you** doing here?"

Rico glared as he heaved himself over the edge and onto a floor of soft leaves.

"What? You can't talk?"

The penguin continued burning holes into the squirrel and pointed out the opening of the den.

"Leave? No!" the indignant mammal said, turning, closing his eyes, and crossing his small arms.

Rico narrowed his garnet eyes even more and, deciding he had had enough, picked up the 'pest', dangling him outside the entrance.

"What?! You're not gonna **drop** me, are ya? I—! **Waaah**—Oof!"

Rico smiled in satisfaction then, hearing a soft groan, turned to Shadow on his right. He leaned over her, concern etched on his face.

Slowly, her red eyes fluttered open, a familiar bird in her line of vision. "…Rico…?"

"Uh-huh…!" he answered, nodding his head enthusiastically.

Shadow smiled tenderly then sat up, rubbing her head with her left flipper. Looking around, she asked, "What happened? And… where **are** we…?"

Rico launched into a series of noises and flipper motions, explaining the situation.

When he finally finished, he sat down, a little tired, as Shadow quietly contemplated this.

"Well then," she started, looking up at him, her head still down. "I'd say it's time for a little **revenge**…"

At that moment, Shadow's face seemed to be the very definition of evil. Her scarlet eyes were slightly glazed over, but had a mischievous sparkle. She was smirking lopsidedly, her right cheek almost squishing her eye, it was so high. Her 'eyebrows' were raised, too. It was a barely suggestive gesture, but there was enough meaning behind it. And surprisingly… Rico loved every second of it.

--

"Whathaveidone,Whathaveidone,Whathaveidone, Whathavei**doooooone**…?," whined Cori, sliding her flippers down the sides of her face. She was seated in a tight ball on top of the Psych Containment Unit.

Des had tried her best to console her cousin, but it hadn't worked.

Skipper was tired of it, so he walked up to muttering she-penguin and slapped her face. She was frozen in shock for the few seconds it took Skipper to say, "Get it together!"

When the few seconds were up, she growled, narrowing her eyes and setting her 'jaw' (AN: do penguins have jaws…?).

"Now she's back!" Skipper said proudly. … …Right before he was attacked by Cori.

She lunged at him, knocking him down, the two tumbling across the floor. "You! Can't! Slap! A! **Girl**!!!!" she shouted ferociously, slapping him repeatedly, then back-flipper-ing him across the room.

He skidded to a stop in front of Des, looking exhausted from his 40-second beating.

Private and Kowalski glanced at their fallen leader, then stared wide-eyed at the tense and heavily-breathing girl who had beat him.

Des looked down at him and declared nonchalantly, "…**Now** she's back."

--

The two escapees had stayed together in that hollowed-out tree den for three days, completely unperturbed by the fact that it was just them. They were actually quite happy to be in only each others' company.

Shadow had time to learn about Rico's scar like he had gotten the reason behind her oddly 'reshaped' flipper. The two had even played some board games that Rico had hidden somewhere in his seemingly bottomless stomach.

Of course, their plans to get back at Cori for Rico's emotional pain and both their physical pain was tossed around, too.

So now the fun was over. It was time for them to put their plan into action.

The two jumped out of their 'base of operations' and snuck from tree-to-tree, getting closer to the park entrance with every step. As they were being sly, the squirrel who's home they'd stolen crept over to the tree and climbed into it, finding there were board game pieces strewn all about, but no boards to be found.

"…NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!" he shouted.

Shadow and Rico quietly chuckled when they heard this then quickly went back to their determined military faces.

They made it to the brick wall just outside the entrance. It was a Sunday: the day the zoo was closed and the perfect day where no humans could watch every move of their attack plan.

"Rico. 'Noculars," Shadow whispered, her right flipper outstretched toward him.

A soft "Bwugh" was heard then Shadow felt a pair of binoculars placed in her flipper.

"Thanks." She peeked around the corner with her scarlet eyes, seeing not a soul outside the penguin HQ, meaning either no one was home or they were all inside. Shadow relayed it to her teammate and he nodded curtly.

They were hoping for the latter.

The two hastily went over the plan then narrowed their red eyes.

"Alright. It's go time," Shadow stated, her partner showing his agreement with a smirk.

--

"It appears that only their aggression levels have spiked to an abnormally high intensity. Everything else: just fine. Untouched," Kowalski reported after running some tests on his machine, several calculations, and a few fast sketches.

"Hm… This is **definitely** worse than that time Manfredi and Johnson were stuck inside that anaconda. Luckily, they were able to survive those stomach juices with only **giant** third-degree burns," Skipper stated.

"And that's better than…?" drawled Des and Cori.

"**Huge**. third-degree burns."

They each raised an 'eyebrow' and said, "Uh-**huh**."

"Wait. Then how'd they get out?" asked Private.

"You… **don't** wanna know," Skipper answered with a grimace as he shook his head.

Private wondered why and was about to ask, "But—"…

…Ali cut him off. "You don't," she said soundly.

The youngest penguin dropped his head.

"Private, search the perimeter," ordered Skipper.

"Alright." The shortest penguin waddled over to the periscope and spotted two black and white figures tobogganing towards their HQ. His eyes widened and he continued to watch the mysterious shapes as he called out to Skipper. "Skippah! I think…! I think it's **them**!"

"'Them' **who**?" the previously addressed penguin asked.

"Rico and Shadow!!!!" Private shouted, freaking out and finally turning around.

"Kowalski! Do we have proper food rations if we're held under siege?"

"Sorry, sir. We only have enough rations for **four** penguins."

"Blast. Well…!" Skipper stated, turning to everyone (and away from Kowalski who was digging through their rations compartment). "Looks like **two** of us'll have to starve. **I** vote One-Eye and Ponytail."

"**What**?!" the two mentioned she-penguins simultaneously exclaimed in surprise.

"Is it decided?" Skipper asked.

Ali opened her beak to say something, but Skipper cut her off, saying, "Good! You two will starve to death while watching us enjoy our rations. Perfect!"

"No one's gonna need to starve themselves," a sinister voice hissed from the shadows.

"Phew! Thanks for proving us wrong!" Cori said, wiping her forehead with the backside of her right flipper.

"We thought we were gonna be **goners**!" Des happily smiled.

"Oh, I didn't necessarily say **that**…," the voice said again, two scarlet eyes appearing in the darkness.

Kowalski, Skipper, Private, and Des gasped as Cori poked Des and began to slither away.

The owner of the red eyes and the voice from before appeared out of the darkness.

"…Shadow…?" Ali quietly asked.

Shadow smiled a friendly smile and looked at Ali, saying, "Oh! Hey, Als! Don't worry. I'm just here to cause some emotional and physical pain to Cori over there."

"Over **where**?" Private asked.

"Whaddoyou mea— Oh." Shadow turned around to see no one there except for Skipper, Kowalski, and Private. She sighed. "C'mon, Rico."

Rico came out of the shadows and followed her up the ladder.

When the two left, it was quiet.

"D'you think we should go up there?" asked the youngest penguin.

"… Nah…," Ali answered. "The statistical probability of any solitary penguin escaping debilitated is only 1.3 percent. Rico and Shadow may have brute strength, but Des and Cori are strategic and sprightly."

…

Silence.

…

"Kowalski. Translation," commanded Skipper.

"Ali said that there's not much of a chance any of them will be hurt. Rico and Shadow are strong, but Des and Cori use tactics and agility."

"Thanks."

"Oh. You're… You're welcome," Kowalski stuttered, surprised at Skipper's graciousness.

"I suggest we all relax. Let those four sort things out," Skipper said.

Kowalski nodded briskly.

"Yay! I call the telly!"

"Save me a seat, Private."

"So Ali, I'd like to challenge you to another game of chess. I've been working on some new strategies that I think you'll find are most awe-inspiring."

"Sure. Sounds fun. I'll play."

--

As Skipper and Private watched tv  
and Kowalski played Ali in chess,  
Shadow and Rico battled it out  
with Cori and her cousin Des.

(AN: …and that was the poem for this story.)

--

Des ducked, able to feel the moving air from Shadow's punch.

Cori jumped over Rico's leg sweep and onto his head, leaping off behind him.

Rico was strong, but Cori was fast. He had tried many different instruments to hinder her, but nothing worked. He had tried holding a giant cicada exoskeleton he had found on the ground in front of her face, but that only interested her, completely going against his theory of all girls (except Shadow) being afraid of bugs. His **chainsaw** hadn't even scared her! She just took it from him and threw it into the water, saddening then hardening Rico's face.

Shadow tried to catch the acrobatic Des, but it seemed as though whenever she got close, the smaller she-penguin would either shrink or become airborne. This resulted in basically all of Shadow's attacks being rendered useless except for tiring herself out. If Shadow punched, Des ducked. If Shadow kicked, Des jumped. When Shadow used a combination of the two, Des somersaulted over both flipper and foot, kicked Shadow's back then landed in a roll, springing up right before falling into the water.

After about 20 long minutes of this, both 'teams' were getting tired.

Des and Cori knew they couldn't keep up for very long, for their adrenaline was running low.

Shadow and Rico kept going, knowing that they would get a second wind any moment now.

So Des thought up a plan. While passing Cori in the air, Des whispered it to her cousin.

They both landed with smirks on their faces in front of their opponents.

"What are **you** two smirking about?" asked Shadow, Rico raising a suspicious 'eyebrow'.

"… Oh… Nothing," Cori said.

"Just the fact that Rico's **last** girlfriend was a **doll…**," said Des.

Rico's garnet eyes widened in surprise.

Shadow was perturbed by this, but only let it show for a second before questioning the two's truthfulness. "And who told you **that**?!"

"Private," Des stated matter-of-factly.

After two months of getting to know the team, Shadow knew that Private couldn't lie, so she knew this was the truth. She snapped her head to her left so that she could glare at Rico.

He cowered under her scarlet, blazing eyes, knowing he was in trouble. "Uh…"

"**Talk**, mister!"

"… Aye… Ah…"

"**Now**!" she growled, forgetting completely that he couldn't speak.

Rico was under the spotlight. … Literally. Shadow had produced a flashlight from her head-feathers and, towering over him, shone it in his terrified red eyes.

As Shadow was interrogating Rico, Des and Cori crept silently down the fish-bowl hatch into the HQ.

--

"I win, 'Walski. … You have to…"

"…But—"

"You **have** to."

"I—"

"Hey. **You** challenged **me**."

"Yes, but if I had known—"

"Come on…," Ali encouraged sweetly, leaning in closer to his face until the tips of their beaks were only a centimeter apart.

Kowalski blushed profusely and gave in. "…Fine." He jumped out of the chair and waddled up to his superior. Kowalski glanced at Ali, who only gestured with her left flipper for him to continue, a smug smile on her face.

He sighed in defeat and tentatively said, "Uh… Skipper…?"

"Yes, Kowalski?" Skipper answered, not looking away from the pale, black-haired man confessing his feelings to a Mediterranean-skinned brunette woman.

The tall penguin took a deep breath… then back-flipper-slapped the shorter penguin.

It took a few seconds for the team leader to actually comprehend what had happened. But… by that time, Kowalski had run back over to the chess table.

Skipper momentarily looked at his strategist receiving loving attention from Ali and decided to disregard it. … At least… until Ali had gone to bed. **Then** he would deal with Kowalski.

At that point, Des and Cori burst into the room and jumped down from the ladder.

Cori spoke quickly. "Hurry! We **gotta** get'**up** there b'fore'those'two fix the **problem**!!"

"Kowalski! Grab that emotion-y-machine-y-thingy of yours and come with us to mend this situation!" Des ordered.

"…'**Mend'**…?" Cori asked, snickering.

"…Shutup."

"I'm sorry… -heehee…- That's just… really funny… Who says **'mend'** anymore…?" Cori asked rhetorically.

"I do," answered Kowalski, grabbing his memory suppression machine which, without the fish, had become an anger amplifying machine.

"Rhe-**tor**-i-cal…," Cori said, eyes half-lidded.

"… Right." Kowalski followed Cori and Des up the ladder, Ali and Private hoisting his contraption up to him. "Thanks."

"Mm-hm!" Ali answered, happily nodding her head.

He pulled the machine up and turned to see Des and Cori rooting for their respective opponents in a fight between Shadow and Rico.

"WOOOO!!!! Go Shadow!" shouted Des.

"Go, Rico! Go!" screamed Cori.

Des raised an 'eyebrow' at her cousin.

"What? I mean, I like Shadow and all, but I'd **really** like to see **her** get beat up for once…"

Des contemplated this while Kowalski was struggling to turn his machine so that the beam would face Shadow and Rico. "… You're right."

"Glad you agree. Now. On the count of three… …Three!"

" WOO-HOO!! GO RICO!!!!" the two cheered.

"Ex-**cuse** me…!" Kowalski exclaimed, slapping down their flippers (sort of like Rico did when Kowalski didn't notice Skipper had been 'captured' by the 'hostiles' that turned out to be 'friendlies'). "We've got a situation! Now help keep them still!"

"O-**kay**. Geez…"

"Fine… but you know you just interrupted our cheering schedule."

"**What** cheering—"

"We'll have to do this again later," they said in unison, their plan all going accordingly. ...to plan (AN: i'm sorry; i just had to).

"NO-HO-HO-HOOOO…!!!" Kowalski shouted, grabbing Rico and Shadow's attention.

"Flip the switches…!" Des and Cori shouted at the tall intellectual.

"Oh! Right!" He did as shouted, a blue beam forming and striking Rico and Shadow.

This time, they weren't in pain. It seemed as though they were actually… relaxing… and calming down. Shadow slid off of Rico, releasing him from his headlock. (AN: yes, everyone headlocks Rico) Rico sat up as she sat down next to him. And if you looked closely, you would see a fight between their regular eye colors and the red. Eventually (meaning after a few seconds), dark gray and sapphire blue won out over scarlet and garnet. The two blinked a couple times then looked at Cori.

She figured she was going to be torn apart any second due to a malfunction in the machine, so she hid behind her cousin, Des.

Shadow only smirked amusedly as Rico smiled contentedly.

"Cori. I believe the perimeter is secure," declared Kowalski.

Cori hesitantly peeked around Des' shoulder at the two now-smiling former-opponents. "Yay!" she exclaimed happily. "You're back!" She ran to them, and wrapped her flippers around the two in a friendly hug.

Shadow and Rico glanced at each other with half-lidded eyes then pushed the offending she-penguin away.

Cori pouted as she looked questioningly up at Shadow.

"No hug," Rico stated.

"Aw… **Now** what'm I gonna get you guys for birthday presents…?"

* * *

So... Was it okay? (the accent wore off... X3) I'm not sure about this chapter. It was a pretty interesting write for me. 'Cause... I'm not good at action scenes. It sucked; I know. But you can tell me anyways. Plus, this is one of the chapters that I have a deleted scene to! Those'll be posted after the story's over as an extra chapter. ... Okay. So... If you want, you can review. But you don't have to. ... Okay. So. i'm gonna go now. So... Uh... Laters... Byes... See ya... Goodbye... Au revoir... A bientot... See ya later, alligator... after while, croco--

**Oh, just say it!!!!**

Geez, Shadow. You're so **aggressive**... ... ... ... babbitrulez, out...

**Thank** you...!


	9. Party Time, Pansies!

Hey, peoples! babbitrulez, here! SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sorry that I didn't update! I just had a lot of things going on like rehearsal, and homework, and online testing, and floods, and flood warnings, and church, and Mother's day gift-buying, and... uuuggggggghhhhhhh...!!! So, I'm back to present you with this chapter! I think there's about three songs actually sung in this chapter by the characters. And don't worry. You'll know when someone's singing.

Okay, so obviously The Penguins of Madagascar don't belong to me. They belong to King Julien. ... Nah, I'm just joshin' ya. They belong to Nickelodeon, Tom McGrath, and all those other people.

Just wanted to tell you that this is the longest chapter so far. ... I think. it was 23 pages on word and about five-thousand and eight-hundred something words, so...

... Soooooooooooooooo... 'Kay, read! (love the commercial)

* * *

**Newbies**

**-a story about four penguins… plus an otter… plus four more penguins…-**

**Chapter 7: Party Time, Pansies!**

The black-and-white birds all sat on the floe, stalling their performance to work up tension and excitement in the extremely small crowd they had that day. A few days after Shadow and Rico had been returned to normal, the four new recruits had become part of the routine, too.

The people were becoming restless, causing Skipper to finally say, "Commence adorable hi-jinks!"

"We call belly-slide duty!" shouted Des and Cori, who began sliding around in various patterns on the concrete.

Shadow and Rico nuzzled beaks, their eyes half-closed.

Skipper waddled to the edge of the floe and somersaulted into the water, making sure to splash Private and Ali, who, in turn, cutely shook off the cold liquid, fluffing up their feathers.

Kowalski executed a few 'oddly endearing body shakes' and, this being the straw that broke the camels' back, fish rained down on them.

As the mini-crowd dispersed, the flightless birds made their way to the pile of fish.

Kowalski figured that there should be enough if each one of them had two.

Ali slowly walked up to the mound of seafood, lost in her own world and thinking about her approach on her situation. Strangely, before she could get any, they were all gone.

Everyone else munched on their two fish, but Ali just cringed slightly at her growling stomach. _Well… This is what you get for thinking about __**him**__ and not real __**life**__, Ali B. Rock… __**Nice**__ going… _She sighed, turned around, and sat next to the empty fish bowl that disguised a secret hatch to the HQ.

Holding his second fish over his open mouth, Kowalski paused, feeling he should take a look at Ali. The tall penguin glanced to his left, and noticed the pink-bowed she-penguin hadn't gotten anything to eat. He got up and walked over to Ali, holding out the fish towards her. "…Here. Take it."

"… No, you earned it," she said, shaking her head from side to side.

"But… You **also** merit the reward and satisfaction…"

Ali pushed it away politely and said, "No, K'walski. I… I couldn't…"

"But I **want** you to have it."

Shadow was watching the scene unfold and, getting fed up with the two's 'politeness', interjected, saying, "**Take**! The **stu**-pid **fish**!"

Ali wasn't as surprised as Kowalski, so while he was staring dumbly at Shadow, she took the fish from his flipper.

He felt this and turned to Ali just in time to see her toss the fish down her throat.

It immediately caused her churning stomachs' desperate grumbles for food to subside and she sighed in contentment.

"I see the nourishment was favorable," smirked Kowalski.

Embarrassed, she answered, "It… Ih was. … Thanks, Walski."

He nodded briskly and sat down next to her.

"You know you could just go **over** there, right?" a voice asked, all the penguins and she-penguins' heads turning to the source.

"…Shhh…! We don't want da peoples to be seeing us wit dare eyeballs…!" a highly accented voice whispered from behind a corner of the lemur habitat.

"…Julien?" asked Private.

"Yes, it is I, King Julien, your… king!" the ring-tailed lemur shouted from behind the corner.

"Well, why don't you come out?" Ali softly asked.

"…Is… Is dee scary flightless bird still dare?" Julien inquired shakily.

"Y'mean Shadow?" asked Cori.

"Dat is her **name**?! No **wonderings**! **Dat's** why she is so… **scary**…! She comes from… the DARKNESS…!"

"I **don't** like **scary**…!" Mort exclaimed, holding onto Julien's foot for protection.

"Mort! Off da royal feet!" Julien kicked his leg forward, sending the little mouse lemur flying and straight into Shadow's flippers.

She looked incredulously at the little brown fuzzball she held as he slowly opened his eyes.

When he did this, he saw Shadow and squeezed them tightly shut again. Mort began trembling and whimpering.

"Aw…," Shadow cooed softly. "It's okay," she reassured, smiling at him as she mussed up the short fur on top of his head with her left flipper.

Mort's large, yellow eyes opened and he smiled, giggling when she tickled him.

Julien timidly poked his head around the corner to get a better look at why Mort was giggling.

Maurice just followed suit.

"… She is just a… a **pansy**…!" Julien said to his 'royal advisor', unable to think of a better description.

The African she-penguin's face went from sweet and caring to threatening in…

"Wow… Point six-three-nine seconds. That was a fast change of face," stated Kowalski.

"**What** did you call me?!" shouted Shadow, whipping her head around to glare at the lemur 'king'.

"I said that you are a pansy," Julien declared, bravely (yet stupidly) coming out from his hiding spot.

Maurice noted the grimace on Shadow's face and grabbed Julien's tail, yanking him backwards. "Julien! I **don't** think that's a good idea! She don' look too happy to see you…," the portly lemur warned.

"Oh, Maurice, please. Are you to be thinking dat **I**, dee **king**, cannot be telling if someone is hoppity mad or happy-go-smiley?"

"Well—"

"Maurice?" Julien interrupted.

"… Yeeees…?" groused Maurice.

"Shuh-tuhp. Okay?"

Maurice grumbled angrily, annoyed at his 'king' being too full of pride to listen to his advisors' advice…

Julien arrogantly strutted over to the penguin habitat and onto the railing. "Hello, Neighbors!"

Skipper rolled his eyes, Shadow growled at him, and everyone else stared at him with blank expressions.

"I will be hurrying to the point of utmost importance! Tonight, we boogie-oogie-oogie 'til da cowards are coming home!"

"… You mean '**cows'**…?" asked Des.

"Whatevers, little she-paynguin," he said, dismissing her with a wave of his paw. "As I was saying, I am having a party on dis night! I will see you den! Ah-hah-hah…!" laughed the ring-tailed lemur, bounding away from the penguin enclosure and back into his own, Maurice close behind.

"Hey! You f'rgot—!"

Shadow cut off Cori and Des by waving her left flipper in front of their faces. She then threw Mort like football, up and over the fence.

"I'm coming, Julieeeeeeen!" Mort yelled as he flew over their heads and into the lemur habitat, landing on a soft patch of grass. "Ee-hee-hee…! I **flew**…!" Mort giggled, rolling around on the grass.

Back at the penguin habitat, everyone (excluding Private) rolled their eyes.

"Well, men. I think it's pretty clear that we are **not** going to that party," Skipper announced.

"Aw…," Rico groaned.

"Why noht, Skippah?"

"Because we've got recon scheduled for tonight. Right, Kowalski?"

The intellectual penguin whipped out his trusty clipboard and read off the schedule for that night. "Zoo closes at eighteen-hundred. All zookeepers have left by eighteen-hundred-thirty." He pulled out a pencil and scrawled a crude picture of Julien and a disco ball next to a certain time. "Approximated time of Julien's party—"

"Priceless?" asked Cori and Des.

Kowalski stared them down for a few seconds.

"… Sorry," Des softly apologized, Cori just looking embarrassed that **Kowalski** of all creatures would be the one to shut her up with a stare. Not even **Shadow** could do that without **glaring**…

"As I was **saying**… Approximated time of Julien's party: nineteen-hundred hours. …" His face dropped. "The same time we have recon scheduled…," he finished, defeated.

"Exactamundo. **That's** why we're not going, Private."

"Baht…," Private started.

"Well, whatever you say, **we're** going. I feel like havin' **fun** tonight. Don't **you** guys?" Shadow announced, directing her question to her own team.

"Mm-hm!" Cori and Des answered excitedly, furiously nodding their heads in excitement.

"Ih **sounds** like 'n int'resting experience… Okay. I'm in," Ali said, smiling.

"Great! So it's settled. We're going and the boys aren't," Shadow stated, smirking (AN: alliteration!! yay!).

This only made Kowalski, Rico, and Private want to go to the party even more… Just like Shadow **knew** it would…

"Couldn't we quickly do recon **roight** aftah all the zookeepahs leave? Then we could do recon **ahnd** go to the pahrty," the youngest penguin suggested.

"Private may be on to something, sir."

"Uh-huh! Uh-huh!" Rico nodded eagerly.

"Well, whatever he's on to, get him off, because we're **not** going. And that's **final**!" declared Skipper.

"Hey, guys!" exclaimed Marlene as she flipped over the water and landed next to the flat-topped penguin. "Are you going to Julien's party tonight? 'Cuz **I'm** going!"

"Change of plans, men. We're going to the party tonight," Skipper affirmed, no sooner than the otter had finished her sentence.

"**YEAH**!" shouted Kowalski, Rico, Private, Cori, Des, and Shadow as they celebrated.

Ali just watched quietly, smiling contentedly that Kowalski would be going to the party with her. Well, not with her, per se, but… they'd be going at the same time as each other.

Cori and Des danced around for a few seconds, Kowalski and Private slapped flippers a couple times, and Shadow and Rico hugged each other then awkwardly pulled away.

The zoo's protectors had just finished recon and were heading over to the lemur habitat.

"This 's gonna be **fun**!" exclaimed Des, carrying a bucket of raw shrimp.

"I **know**, right?!" an eager Cori bubbled, a large box of Peanut Butter Winkys in her flippers.

The two then began running around from tree to tree, blurting out random phrases.

"Happiness runs 'n'a circular motion!"

"I c'n play musical chairs w'th my teeth!"

"There's pixies…"

"…ev'rywh're…!"

"Ooh! A fire truck!"

"Oh, yeah, w'll **I** see a caterpillar!"

"So what? My name backw'rds is Ee-knit-sed!"

"Oh **yeah**? Well, **Any**-rock!"

"Wha's **that**?"

"M'name backw'rds."

"Awes'me!"

"I kno-ho-how!"

"Lass week…"

"…I sor a film!"

"Smile!"

"Pound it!" Cori exclaimed, holding out a curled flipper to Des.

"**Shutup…!**" Shadow shouted. "Are you two idiots hopped up on those Blinky-whatevers…?!"

"Nope!" Cori said.

"Just excited!" Des backed up, her cousin nodding her head.

"Right… So **stop**…!"

"Geez…," Cori muttered.

"Party pooper…," Des mumbled, popping a shrimp into her mouth.

"You know I heard—!"

"I believe we've arrived at our destination," Kowalski announced, interrupting Shadow.

"Coolio!" Des and Cori said happily, slapping flippers.

"Attack stack, men," Skipper ordered, sending he and his team into action.

Rico was at the bottom, supporting Private, who held up Kowalski, who was holding onto Skipper.

The lead penguin stated, "Ali, you first."

"…Okay… Do **what** first?" Ali softly asked.

"…Climb up," Skipper said, as if it was obvious.

"C… Climb up you guys…?"

"Of course. What else is there to climb up?" Shadow asked rhetorically.

"Well…" Ali pulled out an orange clipboard from who knows where and started scribbling. "I'll jus' climb up tha' tree ov'r there an' jump in." She put the clipboard 'back' and smiled at the boys' 'attack stack'.

The slightly embarrassed flat-topped penguin looked everywhere but the tall she-penguin as he said, "… Ah. … Right…"

"Nice," Cori and Des commented, smirking as they crossed their flippers.

The four she-penguins waddled over to a small maple tree next to the lemur habitat, watched by the four guys.

"… Uh… Skippah…?"

Skipper shook his head, clearing it, and said, "Right. Disengage, men." He, Kowalski, and Private jumped down to the ground.

The four followed the girls to the tree, and they all scooted up and over together.

Cori and Des fell flat on their faces; everyone else (including the box of Winkys and bucket of shrimp) landed right-side up.

"Hellooooo, Neighbaaahhhhs…!" Julien shouted, followed by Marlene, Maurice, and Mort.

"Hey, guys!" exclaimed Marlene.

"Hey! Did I say you could do the interrupting of dee king, which is me?"

"But you stopped talking."

"No, I did not! You **started**!"

The otter glared up at the ringtailed lemur.

Julien completely ignored her and threw his arms in the air, shouting, "Welcome to da partyyy…!!!"

"HUZZAH!" Cori yelled.

Des tilted her head in silent confusion as everyone else stared at her blankly.

"Huzzah. Iz like this really old-timey way uh sayin' 'COOL'!" the dark-brown-eyed she-penguin explained.

"Oh," Des said. "Then HUZZAH! it is."

A few minutes past 1900, everyone was enjoying themselves.

Cori and Des were sitting on top of the bar counter, slowly gulping down shrimp and Peanut Butter Winkys as they chatted.

Ali sat in a corner, hiding behind a large banana tree leaf. She was scribbling numbers and doodling little pictures on her clipboard as she moved around the beads on her abacus, occasionally glancing up at a certain tall, thin intellectual penguin.

Kowalski, on the other hand, was oblivious to the fact that he was being observed and downed candy like there was no tomorrow.

Loud beats rocked the dance floor as Julien danced, flaunting his bottom in his usual flashy way. His advisor tried to keep up with the 'king', but was having trouble. Mort was sweating profusely as he danced almost as quickly as Julien.

Shadow leaned nonchalantly against the plastic volcano, watching most of the others have a good time.

Rico rushed back to her, passing her one of the two cups of fruit punch he held.

"Thanks," she commented, smiling a small smile, then went back to zoning out.

He nodded and leaned against the volcano next to her. He softly regurgitated a covered bowl of snacks he had gotten from the bar and opened it up, offering them to Shadow.

Shadow looked at the bowl out of the corner of her eye and said, "Oh. Hey. Munchies. Thanks, Ree."

Rico smiled as the African penguin took a flipperful of chips and stuffed them into her mouth.

Marlene and Skipper both sat at the bar, but on the opposite end of Des and Cori. Marlene sipped her drink, casually taking a fleeting glance at the flat-headed penguin next to her. Skipper kept scooting his stool closer to the otter as Des and Cori acted more and more insane.

"Food, glorious **fooooood**…!!!" the two chinstrap penguins chorused.

Skipper moved even farther away from the singing birds and bumped into Marlene, splashing half her drink onto the ground.

The two looked down at the small, sticky puddle that quickly seeped into the ground.

"… Uh…"

"Whatever. It's okay," she said, shaking her head from side-to-side. She sighed and continued. "Could you get me another drink, please?"

"Sure," the flat-topped penguin answered, slightly embarrassed. He jumped off the stool and headed to the snack table.

As he grabbed another drink, he noticed an odd "going-on" on the dance floor.

…

…Cori and Des…

…were **dancing**…

…with **Julien**…

…to **"Hips Don't Lie"**…

…by **Shakira**.

Needless to say, he found this slightly disturbing and hurried back to Marlene with her fruit punch.

But, on the dance floor, Julien, Des, and Cori did the bump and shook their tails to the beat, enjoying every moment. At one point, the two girls moved their hips in circles with their flippers waving in the air.

"Join in, you guys!" Des shouted to Shadow and Rico.

"Yeah! 'Caaause mah hips don't lie and I'm startin' ta feel it's rite!" Cori sang, really getting into the song as she shook her tail feathers.

"Come, silly-but-scary pen-goo-ins! We must all shake our booties to da beat!"

"… And… **How** am I silly…?" Shadow asked, an irritated 'eyebrow' raised.

"Of **course** you are silly, silly penguin! … You are a penguin!" Julien explained, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"… That makes no sense at all…"

"Yes it does! All penguins are silly!"

"Hey!" exclaimed Des and Cori in annoyance.

"…Eh… I mean all penguins excepting you two flightless-birdie-types."

"… Aren't **all** penguins… … '**flightless**-**birdie-types'**…?" Shadow asked, eyes half-lidded.

"Hmm… Good point. Good point. … Eh… Because they are… **not**-scary…? Does… Does dat work…?"

"…But how can someone scary be silly?" Shadow challenged.

"… Eh… My brain is being very confu-zed right now… It's party time and the booty moving music is over! … So… We must start a new one! Mort! Stahrt dee music!"

"… Whatever…"

The first few beats started playing and Rico grimaced. "Oh boy…"

"What?" Shadow asked.

The mohawked penguin opened his beak to reply but was cut off by Julien.

"Ah like tah move it move it! Ah like tah move it! Ah like tah move it move it! Ya like tah…?!"

"Move it!!" shouted Cori and Des.

Shadow sighed, shaking her head slowly, then walked to the boom box and changed the music to the will. version of the song.

Julien pouted that he had been turned down and sulked in a corner, but he had to admit, this other guy was pretty good at singing.

The first few beats of the song began playing, making Des and Cori shake to the beat.

I like to move it move it! I like to move it move it! I like to move it move it! We like to— Move it!  
I like to move it move it! She like to move it move it! He like to move it move it! We like to— Move it!

Keep on jumpin' off the floor! Dance until your feet can soar!  
Party hard just like it's Mardi Gras 'cause that's what life is for!

"Yeah!" Des and Cori shouted.

And we don't party hardly! (No!)  
We just party hard! (Yeah!)  
And not because we bored! (No!)  
We party 'cause we born tah party!

Julien's left ear began twitching.

We gon' move our bodies with our hands in the air  
And wave 'em all around like we just don't care! (Yeah…!)

Moto Moto in the house. (Yeah…!)  
I'm about tah turn it out. (Yeah…!)  
And you know what's goin' down. 'M physically, physically, physically round!

I like to move it move it! I like to move it move it! I like to move it move it! We like to— Move it!  
I like to move it move it! She like to move it move it! We like to move it move it! We like to— Move it!

Party ain't done.  
Party ain't done.  
Party; This barely got started Act One.  
It just begun. Big action.  
Pump up the volume; speaker blastin'.

Shake up the ground.  
Shake up the ground.  
Shake like an earthquake.  
Quake up the ground.

"Play the mega sound." Cori began singing along.  
"Play the mega sound.  
"Play the mega, play the mega, play the mega sound."

"So I can do mah little dance," Des continued.  
"Do mah little dance.  
"Do mah little, do mah little, do mah little dance."

"Ants in mah pants, got ants in mah pants.  
"Ants in mah, ants in mah, ants in mah pants," Des and Cori chanted together.

That's why— I keep on movin'!  
That's why— I keep on groovin'!  
That's why— I keep on doin'—  
Doin' what I'm doin' y'all.

First name: Moto.  
Last name: Moto.  
Here's how you spell it: M. O. T. O. M. O. T. O.  
When I step in, all the girls want a photo.  
Tchoo! Tchoo! Tchoo! [Y'know. Hey. Yo.]  
Moto Moto in the house.  
I'm about tah turn it out.  
And ya know what's goin' down. 'M physically, physically, physically round!

Shadow smirked after listening to this part of the song and pointed to Maurice dancing, making Rico snicker.

I like to move it, move it! I like to move it, move it! I like to move it, move it! We like to— Move it!  
I like to move it, move it! She like to move it, move it! We like to move it, move it! We like to— Move it!

I like to party, party.  
He like to party, party.  
They like to party, party.  
We like to— Party!

She like to shake it, shake it.  
She like to shake it, shake it.  
He like to shake it? Yeah.

Somebody say ho! (Ho!)  
Say ho ho! (Ho ho!)  
Back it up, back it up, back it up, back it up, back it up.

Yo! Somebody say yeah! (Yeah!)  
Say yeah yeah! (Yeah yeah!)  
Back it up, back it up, back it up, back it up, back it up.

Back it up.

Mort complied and danced backwards for a bit.

Back it up, back it up.  
Back it up, back it up.  
Back it up, back it up.

Julien started flailing wildly and making up random dance moves as he went.

"Gimme room, gimme room, gimme room 'cuz, hah!" the ringtailed lemur shouted, along with the music.

I like to move it, move it! I like to move it, move it! I like to move it, move it! We like to—  
Move it!

She like to shake it, shake it!  
She like to shake it, shake it!  
She like to shake it, shake it!  
Yeah, shake it girl, huh!

We like to party, party!  
We like to party, party!  
We like to party, party!  
We like to party!

We like to move it, move it!  
He like to move it, move it!  
They like to move it, move it!  
Move it, move it, move it, move it!  
Move it.  
Move it.

Julien breathed heavily after the song went off. "Heh… Heh… What… song… is being… next…?"

"Boogie Wonderland!" Des exclaimed, passing Cori the CD.

"Yeah!" Cori said excitedly as she put the CD in the 'boomy box'. "By Earth, Wind, & Fire with The Emotions!" She pressed the play button, then fast-forwarded to the 12th track, the beginning chords of the song playing. She began doing the bump with Des until the song sang…

DANCE!

…and the two chinstrap cousins grabbed Julien's arms and began 'boogying'.

By the end of the song, after some strong coaxing by Cori, Marlene went onto the dance floor. The otter had begun dancing -quite well if you asked Julien- mainly waving her arms in the air and moving her hips to the sides.

Also, Des, by some means, convinced Skipper to join in the dancing, too. Of course he didn't have much 'groove', but he managed to get by with simple movements from side-to-side (AN: if you've ever seen the tag that plays during the credits for the Phineas and Ferb episode: Dude, We're Gettin The Band Back Together and remember how Perry danced, that's basically what Skipper's doing – except without the pointed finger in the air at the end…).

Amazingly, the two had somehow naturally inched their way closer to each other and were now dancing together, smiling and chatting as they did.

Julien made to put in another disco CD, but Des jumped in and stopped him. "Sorry, butchu're gonna hafta wait."

"What?! I demand to know why dis is to be happening!"

"**That's** why," the youngest she-penguin whispered harshly, pushing Julien's head to face the dancing couple.

Julien's eyes widened and his mouth tightened. "… Oh."

All the while, Cori was deciding on a song. "I got it!" She put the CD in the player and pressed play.

A few notes started playing then Cori began softly singing along with Christy Carlson Romano.

"I know we've bee-een friends forever,  
but now I think I'm feelin' somethin' totally new…"

Skipper charmingly offered a flipper to the otter and she took it with a visible blush on her cheeks. The two began slow dancing across the brightly-colored dance floor as Kowalski continued devouring candy.

Ali tentatively walked up to Kowalski. Fidgeting with her flippers, she warily approached him, saying, "Um… K… K'walski…?"

He turned to her, his cheeks filled with butterscotch, chocolate, gummy fish, and Laffy Taffy. "…Yesh?"

"Uh…"

"Oh. Gorry." He quickly gulped down all of the sweets in his mouth and asked, "Yes, Ali?"

"…Um… W'd you like to… Um… Uh… W'd you care tuh… do karaoke? … …w'th **me**?"

The tall penguin was stunned for a moment. He suddenly smiled goofily. "I'd be insulted if I didn't!"

"Isn't th' correct term in that phrase '**you'd** be insulted' rather th'n '**I'd** be insulted'?" Ali asked, smiling with her 'eyebrows' slightly furrowed.

"Ah well," Kowalski said, wrapping a flipper around the long head-feathered she-penguin's shoulders. "'You'. 'I'. It's all limburger to me."

Ali raised an 'eyebrow'. "Ya sure yer not a little… **disoriented** fr'm all that candy, 'Walski…?"

"As sure as fire trucks are green," Kowalski said confidently.

"… Uh… … Okay…?"

"Oh say? O-oh **say** can you **seeeeeee**…! By Breaking Dawn's early light! And so **loud**-ly we wailed! A-at Twi-light's first screening! Who's broad chest and hot **stars** through the perilous fight! Oh, the **Lau**-tner we waaaatched! was so gallantly gleaming! And the werewolf's mad glare—!"

"Kowalski?"

"Hm?"

Slightly grimacing, Ali suggested, "…Y'may needtuh see a doctor."

Kowalski's eyes suddenly widened as his feathers all ruffled up and his beak started twitching. Soon, his whole body began shivering, but after a few seconds, he completely stopped and sighed contentedly. "… Well. Now that that sugar high is over, would you care to sing some karaoke with me, Ali?"

"…" The tall she-penguin warily stared at the innocently-smiling Kowalski. "… Uh…" She smiled, as she figured she couldn't say no. "…Sure."

"Great. I'll be right back."

Kowalski returned to Ali with a sullen look on his face.

"… Whaz wrong, K'walski?" Ali asked, placing a flipper on his drooped shoulder.

He sighed. "Unfortunately, the karaoke machine is backed up for the next four songs…"

"… Well, we c'n go **after** that."

"… True. Wellll… we might as well listen to everyone. Would you care to join me?" Kowalski asked, putting out a bent flipper towards Ali.

"Uh'course," she answered, taking his flipper.

The two made their way to the dance floor where Rico, Shadow, Private, Skipper, Marlene, and the lemurs sat. As the multi-colored lights flashed beneath them, everyone watched Cori and Des standing on a small stage, waiting for the instrumental to end and the lyrics to begin.

"Grew up in a small town  
and when the rain would fall down  
I'd just stare out my wiiiindoooow…," Cori and Des sang softly in unison.

"They're quite good," Kowalski whispered to Ali.

"Oh yes. They've b'n singin' t'gether ever since they'were hatched. … Well. A'least thaz what they told me…," Ali answered, smiling sheepishly.

(AN: because this is turning out to be longer than I wanted…)

Marlene was up next. She sang Can't Help Falling In Love by A-teens quite beautifully, if you asked anyone. Ali commented on it, Kowalski responding by saying that he hadn't heard her sing very often or loudly although there was that one time where they were 'kinda sorta gathering intel'…

Oddly enough, Skipper started singing next. Shadow smirked when he hit the high notes in Hero-Heroine by Boys Like Girls. Even the name of the band was ironic for the 'love-less' leader. Ali began to giggle softly as Cori and Des raised amused 'eyebrows'. Cori asked Des how he could have his hands in his pockets if he didn't have hands. … 'Or pockets', Des replied.

Ali and Kowalski smiled when Private sang Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch by The Temptations. Ali chuckled softly at the fact that the little penguin had a blush that was slightly visible when he waddled off the stage. Kowalski watched as Skipper approached the young penguin.

"Private, I thought I told you to lay off the sweets before singing."

"Oh. Sorry, Skippah."

"… Make sure it doesn't happen again."

"Yes, sir."

"Oh, and, uh… By the way? … Nice song." Skipper walked away with a smirk curling up the side of his beak.

Kowalski also had a smile.

Ali poked him lightly, making the intellectual turn to her. "I think it's our turn, Kowalski."

At the microphone, Ali and Kowalski shuffled their feet as the beginning notes of the song played.

Sneaking glances at each other, they began singing.

Kowalski:

So she said, "what's the problem baby?"  
What's the problem? I don't know.  
Well maybe I'm in love. (Love)  
Think about it. Every time I think about it,  
I can't stop thinking 'bout it.

Ali:

How much longer will it take to cure this?  
Just to cure it, 'cause I can't ignore it…if it's love. (Love)  
Makes me wanna turn around and face me,  
But I don't know nothing 'bout love.

Kowalski:

Come on, come on,  
Turn a little faster.  
Come on, come on,  
The world will follow after.  
Come on, come on,  
Cause everybody's after love…

Ali:

So I said, "I'm a snowball running.  
Running down into the spring  
That's coming all this love.  
Melting under blue skies;  
Belting out sunlight,  
Shimmering love."

Kowalski:

Well, baby, I surrender  
To the strawberry ice cream.  
Never ever end of all this love.

Ali:

Well I didn't mean to do it,  
But there's no escaping your love!

Kowalski:

These lines of lightning  
Mean we're never alone,  
Never alone, no, no!

Ali:

Come on, Come on,  
Move a little closer.  
Come on, Come on,  
I want to hear you whisper.  
Come on, Come on,  
Settle down inside my love.

Kowalski:

Come on, come on,  
Jump a little higher!  
Come on, come on,  
If you feel a little lighter!  
Come on, come on,  
We were once upon a time in love…

Ali:

We're accidentally in love,  
Accidentally in love…  
We're accidentally in love,  
Accidentally in love…

Kowalski:

We're accidentally in love,  
Accidentally in love…  
We're accidentally in love,  
Accidentally in love…

Kowalski and Ali:

We're accidentally in love,  
Accidentally in love…  
We're accidentally in love,  
Accidentally in love…  
We're accidentally in love,  
Accidentally in love…

Accidentally…

Ali:

I'm In Love, I'm in Love,  
I'm in Love, I'm in Love,  
I'm in Love, I'm in Love,

Kowalski and Ali:

Accidentally…

Kowalski:

I'm In Love, I'm in Love,  
I'm in Love, I'm in Love,  
I'm in Love, I'm in Love,

Kowalski:

Accidentally…

Ali:

Come on, come on,

Kowalski:

Spin a little tighter!

Come on, come on,

Ali:

And the world's a little brighter!

Kowalski:

Come on, come on,  
Just get yourself inside her  
Lo-o-o-ove…

Kowalski and Ali:

I'm in lo-o-ove…

And with that, they touched foreheads. As they moved back from each other, their beaks brushed and their eyes widened for a moment. But, they soon just awkwardly smiled as they started to walk offstage.

Although, just as Kowalski and Ali were about to leave the stage, Des shouted, "Wooo! Take it off! Wooo!"

Oddly enough, Ali complied and tossed her pink bow into the 'crowd'.

Des caught it and turned to Cori. "Aaaah!" she shouted enthusiastically. "I got 'er bow! I got 'er bow!!" Cori and Des then laughed happily as Ali quietly came up to them. Cori made a circular motion with her flipper. After Ali had turned around, Cori took the bow from Des and fastened it back into the tall she-penguin's head-feathers.

Once 're-bowed', Ali joined Kowalski and the two waddled over to a small spot on the grass next to the empty dance floor. The radio began playing a techno beat.

"…How'd you know th'my shampoo smells like strawberry ice cream, K'walski…?" Ali asked sweetly.

"… It **does**…?" Kowalski was surprised at how accurate the song had been.

Ali smiled and nodded her head.

"…Oh. …" He blushed then looked away, embarrassed, as he asked tentatively, "May I… Uh… May I… **test**? that theory?"

"… Uh'course," Ali answered, giggling softly.

He hesitantly moved closer to her, becoming lost as he inhaled the intoxicating scent of strawberry ice cream. He sighed in contentment as Ali smiled amusedly at him, for no one else had paid so much attention to the smell of her head-feathers before. … It was nice, actually. She didn't even mind it when he nestled his face into her thick head-feathers to enjoy the aroma even more.

"Kowalski, preening is **not** something we do here at the Central Park Zoo!" Skipper shouted, slightly shuddering in memory of when Rico and he, himself, had been instructed by Private to preen each other like 'real' penguins.

Kowalski's head shot up, his cheeks (facial) glowing red through his thick, white feathers. "Um… I was… just… testing a theory, sir…!" he stuttered.

"Well no **'testing theories'** outside HQ," Skipper said, giving Kowalski an almost imperceptible nod of approval.

"Y-yes… sir…," Kowalski answered, giving a shaky salute.

"Okays to everybody!" Julien shouted. "We shall be moving to da mad beats of Cool-Penguin and Cool-Penguin Two!"

"Oh! Thass us!" Cori exclaimed, running onto the stage with her cousin.

The two youngest she-penguins nodded their heads to the beat.

Cori started. "Oh oh-oh ohhh oh!"

Cori and Des:

There will be no rules tonight  
If there were we'd break 'em  
Nothing's gonna stop us now  
Let's get down to it!

Rico and Shadow quickly made it onto the dance floor right behind Julien and his posse. They and Private moved their bodies to the beat of the song, smiling happily as Skipper and Marlene hesitantly joined in.

Cori and Des:

Nervous hands and anxious smiles  
I can feel you breathing  
This is right where we belong  
Turn up the music!

Des:

Oh oh-oh ohhh oh!

Kowalski glanced at Ali out of the corner of his eye. She was silently watching the eight dancers.

Cori and Des:

This is the dance for all the lovers  
Takin' a chance for one another  
Finally it's our time now  
These are the times that we'll remember  
Breaking the city's heart together  
Finally it's our time now  
It's our time now

Cori got her cousin's attention and nodded her head to Kowalski and Ali. Des nodded in understanding.

Cori and Des:

This is more than just romance  
It's an endless summer  
I can feel the butterflies, leading me through it  
Take my heart, I'll take your hand  
As we're falling under  
This is an addiction girl  
Let's give in to it

As they sang, the two she-penguins made jumped offstage and crept up behind Ali and Kowalski.

Cori:

Oh oh oh oh oh

Cori – popping up behind Ali and holding her shoulder:

This is the dance for all the lovers!

Des – appearing behind Kowalski and holding his shoulder:

Takin' a chance for one another!

Cori and Des – pushing together Ali and Kowalski:

Finally it's our time now

Cori and Des – pushing Ali and Kowalski onto the dance floor:

These are the times that we'll remember  
Breaking the city's heart together  
Finally it's our time now  
It's our time now

The two nervous birds finally began moving side to side a little bit.

Des:

Oh oh oh oh oh  
Oh oh oh oh oh

The two singers smiled triumphantly at each other as they made their way back to the stage.

Des:

Now  
It's a dance  
Get up  
Come on brothers

Cori:

Oh oh oh oh oh  
Oh oh oh oh oh  
Oh oh oh oh oh

Cori and Des – raising one flipper in the air each with their eyes closed:

This is the dance for all the lovers  
Takin' a chance for one another  
Finally it's our time now  
These are the times that we'll remember  
Breaking the city's heart together

All ten animals were really getting into it and enjoying themselves.

Des (Cori):

Finally it's our time now  
It's our time now  
(It's our time now)  
It's our time now  
(It's our time now)  
Oh oh oh oh oh  
Oh oh oh oh oh

Cori and Des:

Finally it's our time now…

Des and Cori winked at each other out of the corner of their eyes as the song ended and Ali and Kowalski shared a short, but sweet kiss.

* * *

So. How was the chap? Was it too predictable? I hope not. I tried to be weird. And I don't think Shadow showed up as much as I wanted her to. But I was aiming for an Ali/Kowalski-centric chap (if anyone could think of a couple name, 'cause I have no idea what the heck kinda couple name would work for these crazy kids...). I think that attempt failed epically, but... Oh well. When life gives you lemons... make apple juice and have people wonder how the heck you did it. Although I'm allergic to apple juice... ... Any ways! And kayla? I'll take you up on that offer. No idea when it'll be up, but probably the next or second next chapter up. 'Cause i'll have more time to write over summer break. OUT OF SCHOOL ON MAY 21ST, BABY!! WHOO! ... eh-hem. ... Back to what I was saying... I like your idea and already have part of the chapter written. (insert smiley face here)

Okay lates, guys!

Reviews are nice, like artificial flavors, but they can hurt, like artificial flavors. Either way, you can review if you want but I won't be missing out on anything. Like when someone gives you water. If there's no artificial flavor packet to go with it, I'm okay. ... Enough on my artificial flavors spiel (is that how it's spelled?). babbitrulez,out!


	10. I Have Thumbs!

Hey, guys. I'm sooooooo sorry I didn't update yesterday! It was Memorial Day and my uncle came over, my mom was badgering my brother and I to clean the house, I had to put up a volleyball net with 21 instructions attached, I had to work on my mother's scrapbooks for her (they have to be finished by Friday morning at 5...), and I had to help cook. I'm sorry, but I just had so much to do yesterday... -snif- I'm sorry... I think this is my longest chapter yet (22 pages in Word), so that should make up for it. ... Hopefully.

Again, I don't own any of this except for my characters (and even they have their own people they're styled after, so...). All I own is half a pack of gum, some graphite refills for a pencil I found on the floor a couple years ago, and a sketchbook I bought from SCAD. And a couple pairs of socks. ... No, wait, my mom bought those. ... Scratch that last part and just read the story...

* * *

**Chapter 8: I Have Thumbs!**

It was early Sunday morning and the zoo was closed. In the penguin habitat, the she-penguins were watching Phyllis and Fern, enjoying the antics of the two inventive stepsisters and their older brother, Chandler. The penguins were sitting at their makeshift table, looking over the plans for Operation Infiltration.

Everyone was intrigued in what they were doing until one she-penguin looked at the clock with her dark brown eyes and smiled hugely, almost knocking off her glasses. "Storytime!" Cori shouted, the others inside the HQ gathering around her.

For the past few days, Cori had been reading aloud a book found by their habitat to the other seven black-and-white birds. The name of the book was The Story of Tristesse. Amazingly, all the penguins and she-penguins were looking forward to the reading.

Cori took a deep breath and began to recite the written words of Kathy DeCamilla. "'Chapt'r Sev'n. A mouse 'n love. … An' wha'was our own fav'rite member of th' mouse community doing while th' sound'f th' Mouse Council drum echoed through th' walls 'f'the castle?

(AN: this part won't be accented, 'cause i don't feel like putting an accent on a book excerpt…)  
"'Reader, I must report that Absence had not seen the worst of it. Tristesse sat with the princess and the king and listened to song after song. At one point, gently, oh so gently, the Endive picked up the mouse in her hand. She cupped him in her palm and scratched his oversize ears.

"'You have lovely ears,' the Endive said to him. 'They are like small pieces of velvet.'

"'Tristesse thought that he might faint with the pleasure of someone referring to his ears as small and lovely.'

"Wait. Bu'what about th' velvety-ness?" Cori interrupted.

"**Cor**-iii…! On w'th'the story!" Des whined.

"Oh. Right.

"'He laid his tail against the Endive's wrist to steady himself and he felt the princess' pulse, the pounding of her heart, and his own heart took up the rhythm of hers.'" Cori paused to take a large breath.

"'Papa,' the Endive said when the music was over, 'I am going to keep this mouse. We are going to be great friends.'

"'The king looked at Tristesse cupped in his daughter's hands. He narrowed his eyes. 'A mouse,' he muttered. 'A **rodent**.'

"'What?' said the Endive.

"'Put it down,' the king commanded.

"'No,' said the Endive, who was a person not at all used to being told what to do. 'I mean, why should I?'

"'Because I told you to.'

"'But why?' protested the Endive.

"'Because it's a mouse.'

"'I know. I'm the one who told you he was a mouse.'

"'I wasn't thinking,' said the king.

"'Thinking of what?'

"'Your mother. The queen.'

"'My mother,' said the Endive sadly.

"'Mice are rodents,' said the king. He adjusted his crown. 'They are related to… rats. You know how we feel about rats. You know of our own dark history with rats.'

"'The Endive shuddered.

"'But Papa,' she said, 'he is not a rat. He's a mouse. There's a difference.'"

At this point, Cori was excited and continued reading, quickly getting to the end of the chapter, almost as fast as Shadow on a sugar rush, but not quite, so that everyone could still understand her.

"'Tristesse ran into the hole and from there he looked out at the princess. She had picked up his handkerchief and she was looking at him… right, directly into his soul.

"'Tristesse,' she said. He saw his name on her lips.

"'I honor you,' whispered Tristesse. 'I honor you.' He put his paw over his heart. He bowed so low that his whiskers touched the floor.

"'He was, alas, a mouse deeply in love.'," Cori ended, closing the book. "Alright. Thass enough f'r today." Skipper opened his beak to say something, but was interrupted. "Go back t'y'r respective duties." Cori looked to him for approval, seeing an impressed smile on his face. Glimpsing his appreciation, she smiled proudly.

"Poor Tristesse…," Kowalski said sadly.

"Don' worry, 'Walski," Ali said comfortingly. "That's jus chapter sev'n. I think there's thirty-four 'r somethin'. Ih'should all be fixed by then."

"Yes, I suppose you're right. I just… wish I could do more to **help**…"

"It's inside a **book**! Get **over** it!" Shadow yelled from across the room.

"… That's **it**!"

"**What's** 'it'?" Ali, concern etched on her face. "'Inside a book'? How'll **that** help…?"

"I'll create a serum that turns animals into humans! It's **brilliant**!" Kowalski exclaimed, already setting to work on his project.

Knowing she wouldn't be able to talk him out of it, Ali just joined him in the formation of the serum.

"And lo, it is **done**!" Kowalski exclaimed, exiting his lab (Ali following) and catching the attention of the penguins and Marlene, who had come over just because.

"…Y'think it'll work…?" Ali tentatively asked as everyone gathered around the two.

"… It **should**…," the tall penguin stated. "… Well, would you all like to go to the abandoned warehouse in the park to test it out?"

Shadow and Skipper looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders. "Move out, soldiers," the two said simultaneously.

Kowalski had a hopeful smile; then all animals exited the HQ.

* * *

The birds all jumped off the wall, but Marlene stayed at the top.

"Uh… guys…?" she called, wringing her paws.

The penguins and she-penguins turned around to look at her.

"What is it, Marlene?" Skipper asked.

"Um… I… I can't…," the otter stuttered. "…y-you know… out… outside…?"

"Oh yeah," Private said. "The going wild thing."

"Perhaps you could block your optical receptors…?" Kowalski suggested.

Rico upchucked a black piece of cloth and stated, "Bli'fold…?"

"Okay. What the heck is going on?" Shadow exclaimed.

"Um… Yes… 'M **also** a li'l bit c'nfused…," Ali added.

"Mahrlene goes a li'le bit bonkahs when she goes outside zoo walls," Private explained.

"… Ah," Des said in understanding.

"Carry on," Cori said, moving her flipper in circles as it to say 'continue'.

By this time, Marlene had jumped into the flippers of Skipper and Kowalski and had had Rico put a blindfold over her eyes. Skipper was holding her paw to direct her.

The nine animals set off for the abandoned warehouse and made it in a few short minutes.

"Alright," Skipper said, turning to the others. "We don't know when Archie'll be back, so we'll have to do this quickly. Door open maneuver, now!"

Rico, Kowalski, Private, and Shadow jumped onto each others heads (Shadow on top) and opened the metal door. They went out of formation and entered the warehouse, Cori, Des, Skipper, and Marlene following close behind.

Once inside, Rico pushed the door closed while Skipper removed Marlene's blindfold.

"So," Kowalski said. "Who wants to go first?"

… Silence.

"… Please…?" he pleaded.

"No thanks," Skipper stated, plain and simple.

"'Member las'time when Shadow 'n' Rico had spiked aggression levels…?" Cori asked.

"Yes, but that was a **ray**," Kowalski said. "**This** is a **serum**. …Completely different!"

… Silence. …

"I say either Cori or Des," Shadow said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Yay!" exclaimed Des. "Me first!"

"Um… How'bou' we all jus' do th's together…?" Cori suggested hesitantly.

"…" Silence. Then a chorus of "sure"s "why not"s and "okay"s was heard.

A small bit of the serum was poured onto each animal's front appendages like baby oil.

"Now. There is a certain way in which the serum must be applied for it to work," Kowalski announced. "First, wipe it across your forehead."

Everyone did so.

Rico suddenly picked up Des into the air.

She giggled. "I'm Simba…!" she exclaimed happily as she looked around the room.

And, getting the reaction he wanted, the mohawked penguin smiled and set her down.

"Next," Ali instructed, "wipe'it across yer chest."

This direction was followed, too.

"And now wipe the rest onto your belly."

Belly: check.

Cori chuckled. "Tickles…"

"Now. Aft'r'a few sec'nds, ih'should be working," the tall she-penguin informed.

"Ah feel… **tingly**…," Private noted.

"As do I, Private," Skipper commented.

The room was suddenly filled with a thin, white fog. But, as soon as it had appeared, it was gone.

A lanky white teenaged boy was the first to sit up. "Ah… Did it work…?" He raised a pale hand and stared at it with surprised, blue eyes that had glasses over them. Wiggling his newly-acquired fingers, he exclaimed, "**HA**! By the noble gases… It was a **success**! … Hm. But how did I acquire **glasses** in the process…? … Ah well." The 15-year-old began looking around himself. "Ali? Ali! Ali, it was a success! The experiment was a success!"

"…Ughhhh… Success…?" a soft voice echoed, slowly sitting up. The voice had come from a peach-colored girl of about the boy's height and age. She patted her long, light brown locks and felt her pink bow with her hand. "…Huh. Ih **was** a success, Kowalski." Ali looked up at the boy with shining light gray eyes.

"High five how it's **supposed** to be, Ali?" Kowalski asked, holding up all five of his right digits.

"Cert'nly," Ali replied, smiling as she high-fived him.

"Aw **man**…!" a brunette girl of about 15 said as she sat up. She had tan skin, like someone from a Polynesian country of some sort. "I wonder if I still can't go outside the zoo…," she mumbled, her hazel-green eyes catching sight of her new, furless, tailless body. Her hair was pretty short, not even reaching her shoulders, but then again, the girl was also quite short.

Two girls with skin a little bit darker than caramel sat up, yawning and stretching their arms. Both were about 13 years old and had glasses, but one had dark chocolate eyes; the other had milk chocolate. (AN: alright, now i need some chocolate… -munch- …mmm… … continue on!) The two both had hair so dark brown that it seemed black, but the darker-eyed one had hair to a few inches past her shoulders. The lighter-eyed girl had hair that reached about to her shoulders.

"Cori?" the lighter-eyed girl asked, fidgeting with the skull bracelet on her wrist.

"Yes, Des?" the darker-eyed girl answered. "Hey." Cori giggled. "That rhymed…! … Okay. I'm good. Yeah, Des?"

"… Why're **we** black? … It's… It's just a question. It's… not like it's… **bad**… but… y'know…" Des shrugged her shoulders dismissively. "… Kinda weird…"

"True. Very… **very** true…," Cori said, looking over her brown hands and fingers.

A 10-year-old boy with pale skin and many freckles sat up. "Nnn… Ahre we… human…?" he asked in a British accent, looking towards Kowalski as his five-inch black hair swished around behind him.

"Affirmative, Private," the glasses-wearing 15-year-old said.

"Wow… … …**Wicked**…!" Private looked at his fingers with wide blue eyes full of curiosity. He looked to his left and shook someone's shoulder. "Skippah… …Skippah, wake up…!"

Skipper sat up in a flash, his hands up in defense and his entire 17-year-old body tense. He relaxed when he noticed it was just Private. The sides of his black hair were slicked back, the hair on top of his head, short and spiky. His sharp blue eyes looked over everyone around him. "Is everyone alright? No defects?"

"Uhm… Well… I would tell you… but… uh…" Kowalski blurted out the rest. "Not everyone's awake yet."

"Augh. What the heck…," a light tan girl mumbled, scratching at her coffee-brown, shoulder-length hair as she sat up. Her dark gray eyes surveyed the humans around her. "… Where's Rico?" the 18-year-old girl asked.

"Ehhhnnnn… Here…," a pale teen of about 18 said from the ground. He sat up, supporting himself with one arm and running his other hand through his thick, black hair that fell down beside his mohawk. He paused and asked, in a raspy voice, "…What?"

Ali, Shadow, Cori, Des, and Marlene were all staring at him with wide eyes and open mouths.

He slowly slid his hand out of his wavy hair, causing some of it to go every which way as he looked back at the girls with one questioning eyebrow raised.

"He's ev'n hotter with'is hair messed up…!" Cori exclaimed.

"Amen to **that**, Cuz," Des said as she held up a hand which Cori slapped five, neither taking their eyes off of Rico.

He looked to Kowalski, Private, and Skipper for an answer, but they all shrugged their shoulders. Sighing, he turned to look at Shadow and his light blue eyes met her slate gray ones.

She shook her head furiously to clear all thoughts, then slapped Cori and Des, deciding to just repeatedly prod Ali and Marlene with her index fingers until they had returned to the real world.

"My apologies," Ali said softly.

"Yeah. We're sorry, too," Des and Cori said.

"Uh-huh," Marlene said, smiling sheepishly.

"Good. …'Cause he's **mine**…" Shadow walked up to Rico and smirked, crossing her arms.

He smiled back, accentuating the dark brown scar running from his left cheek over his mouth to right below his lower lip. His smile dropped as he noticed her large, mahogany scar that stretched in an irregular ellipse on her left arm. He took her forearm in his hands and brought it up to his face for closer inspection. "…Shark…?" he asked, looking at her over her arm.

She simply nodded. "Guess so."

"Hm…," he answered, nodding his head.

It was silent in the Central Park Warehouse…

"… **Awk**-waaaaarrrrd…!" Cori and Des sang.

"Affirmative," Skipper stated. "Now let's get outta here. Archie'll be back any time and we don't want Private going all-out on 'im. Especially concerning the fact that he's bigger than a raccoon now…"

"That duhrty liah…," Private hissed, glaring at the ground.

"Uh… Okaaaay…," Des and Cori said confusedly.

"So. Who would like to try out their new digits first?" asked Kowalski, standing up with the others.

"One of you guys can go first," Marlene said. "I had fingers before."

"I'll go first," Private said, walking up to the door and opening it to the greenery of Central Park. He walked out of the warehouse and noticed that he was quite a bit taller than he was before. "… Woahhhhh… …Come on, you guys!" Private called. "…It's **great** out here!"

Corinne and Destiny were next out of the warehouse. "… Wow," they said in unison. "Ev'rything's… **smaller**…!" They smirked at each other and high-fived, saying, "**Coo**-hoo-hoool…!"

"Meh," Shadow said, exiting the warehouse with her arms crossed.

Rico, right behind her, watched a butterfly in curiosity. It looked so much smaller than the last time he had seen it a few days before.

Marlene carefully made her way out, Skipper's right hand over her eyes and his left hand around her shoulders. "I… I think I'm okay, Skipper."

"… You sure? 'Cause we can't leave a civilian to wander about a park at any time."

Marlene smiled. "Skipper, I'm **fine**."

"… All riiight…," Skipper warily drawled, hesitantly moving his hand from over her eyes and letting the brunette actually see her surroundings.

"Wooooaaahhhh…," she noted, her eyes wandering over all the sights, not feeling at all wild or crazy.

"Sweet Hardy-Weinberg Principle!" Kowalski exclaimed, walking out of the building. "Everything's so diminutive!"

"Indeed it is…," Ali said, her light gray eyes wide open as she took in the scenery around her.

"Hey guys," Cori called, looking over her shoulder at her companions.

Everyone looked to the second shortest girl.

"Why don'we go 'xplore New York City 's humans?" Cori suggested.

"Nah," Skipper said.

"… Let's go explore New York City as humans," Marlene tried. She thought it was actually a pretty good idea.

"Alright," Skipper agreed, causing Cori to growl. "But we're going to need some aliases…"

"Ooh! Ooh! Des 'n' I c'n come up w'th'some!" Corinne exclaimed, bouncing up and down. "Right, Des?"

"O'course!" Des answered, smiling at her cousin. "All right, ev'rybody!" she barked. "Line up!"

Everyone complied.

Cori and Des went up to the first person in line, their hands behind their backs.

"Let's see… Koala… Koala…," Cori started. "You c'n be Wallace Jones! Wally fe'short."

"… May I ask why?" Kowalski asked confusedly.

"'Cuz 'Wally' sounds like 'Walski'," Destiny explained.

The tall intellectual shrugged his shoulders.

The cousins went up to Ali.

"Hmm…," Des said. "We c'n just use somethin' close t'yer actual name. 'S Ali Brock alright?"

"… Um… …Sure."

"Now… Skipper… Skipper…," Cori said, smirking widely. "You c'n be… Rosemary Calypso."

"What?" the military-like leader exclaimed.

"Fine, fine…," she said, waiting eagerly for the steam to start pouring out of Skipper's ears. "… Keith—"

"No 'Keith'!" Skipper protested. "That's the worst name ever."

"Tha'w's th' point…"

"Cori, c'mon…," Des said. "Here, Skip. You c'n be… …Skip. … Skip Durham. 'S that okay?"

"As okay as mayonnaise in a cake."

"…"

"…Tha'means 'yes'," Cori said, surprised that Des had never had mayonnaise cake before.

"Ah," Des said, she and Cori moving on to the next person. "Hm… Marlene…"

"Marlene Loutre?" Cori asked.

"What?" Des asked.

"Loutre. It's French f'r 'otter'," Cori answered, now grateful for those two years of French from that French penguin at their last aquarium.

"… Tha'works," Des said.

"Hm. Marlene Loutre. It kinda flows," Marlene said. "…I like it!"

"Cool."

"Private," Des stated. Shaking her head, she continued, "…**Man**. We're gonna hafta do s'me **major** name-mangling here…"

"Um… How 'bout… Pichi?" Cori suggested.

"'Pichi'…?" Private inquired.

"Yeah. It's a Japanese name tha'means 'small' or 'boy'," the older cousin explained. "Pretty fitting, huh?"

"… That works. And a last name could be… Cadbury!" Des exclaimed.

"Pichi Cadbury? … Sounds good. Sounds good. Very international w'th'the Japanese name an' the English surname goin' on there… You like it, dude?" Cori asked.

"… Sure…!"

"Okay," Cori said, she and her cousin moving down the line to their leader. "Now. Shadow… … Eh… … Shadow Noir?"

"She c'n keep'er name…?" Des asked, scratching her head as she looked at her older cousin.

"Oh yeah. 'Shadow' 's an English name."

"Reahlly? Whaht's it mean?" Private asked curiously.

"…It means 'shadow'. … An' 'noir' is French for 'black'. D's that work, Shadow?"

"Yeah. Fine. Whatever."

"Hm…," Cori said, rubbing a fist under her chin. "You c'n be Rico Perez. It sounds Latino and cool."

"Oh, come on," Des said, frowning. "A hot dude doesn't need a **'cool'** last name. He needs a **hot** last name. Like… Fuego!"

"… Rico Fuego. … That works!" Cori pointed to Des. "So… You c'n be—"

"What, so you're not even gonna ask him if he likes that name?" Shadow asked, annoyed.

"Yeah…!" Rico said indignantly.

"…No. Why would we?" Cori stated simply.

"So wha'were you saying I could be?"

"I think we should be Corinne an' Destiny Manchot."

"… 'Manchot'…?" Des asked.

"Oui, ma nouvelle **sœur**!" Cori explained. "'Manchot' means 'penguin' en français!"

"… Huh."

"Well then…," Cori said. "Wallace Jones, Ali Brock, Skip Durham, Marlene Loutre, Pichi Cadbury, Shadow Noir, Rico Fuego, and Destiny Manchot… **Nous allons au ville**!"

"… What?" Skipper asked.

"We go to the town…!" Cori translated.

* * *

Shadow and Rico strolled leisurely down the sidewalk of the New York streets, looking about at all the scenery around them.

Passing an alleyway, Shadow thought of something. "Maybe if we're lucky, we'll get attacked by a **gang**…!" Shadow said excitedly, glancing at Rico on her right.

"…**Twooo**…?" Rico drawled, smirking.

Shadow's eyes lit up. "Two gangs would be even **better**!"

The boy next to her nodded eagerly.

* * *

"Whatchu think is gonna happen while we're out here?" Des asked.

"I dunno," Cori answered. She suddenly gasped excitedly. "Maybe we'll find a **puppy**!"

"Tha'would rock the casbah."

"And you **know** this…!" As they continued to walk, Cori asked Des something. "…Hey. Wouldn't it be weird 'f you had a crush on some human dude?"

"Yeah, it **would** be pretty— Wait. Just me? Why me?"

"'Cause I've never had a crush on anyone b'fore an' prob'ly won't ever."

Smiling slyly, Des drawled, "Bu' what about Taaaa—"

"Shut-**up**…!" Cori shouted, feeling like she was blushing.

"Whatever. B't I'm pretty sure that you're gonna get a crush on someone **some**-ti—"

"Shut it!"

"… What are you—?"

"Hush!" Cori exclaimed, putting a hand over Des's mouth.

Des's eyebrows furrowed. She stuck out her tongue, licking her cousin's – sorry. **sister's** – hand.

"Eugh!" Cori yanked her hand away, wiping her hand on her pants leg. "Stop it, Des! There's a **dude** over there!"

"… Since when'ave **you** ever cared about guys?" Des asked suspiciously as she crossed her arms.

"… Since… a time…," Cori mumbled.

"…You **like** him. **Dontchu**?" Des asked, a smug grin playing across her face.

"… … …Maybe."

"Well go **talk** to 'im then…!" Des said, pushing Cori towards the guy, making her bump into him.

"… Uhhhh…" Cori hesitated, looking at the boy who had caught her attention. He was slightly shorter than her, so to look at his gray eyes, she had to look down a little. He smiled, accentuating the many freckles spattered across his face and the braces on his teeth. The boy had chestnut-brown-slash-reddish hair and was pretty pale, but Cori didn't care. All she cared about at that moment was whether she should steal the book he held in his hand or not.

* * *

"… Hm… Ali. Are you better than average with stealth skills?" Kowalski asked the long-haired girl beside him as the two stood in the back alleyway of a large museum.

"Well… Cori 'nd Shadow are the best, b't I'm sec'nd best since they tie… 'S that all right?"

Kowalski smirked. "Perfect."

* * *

It was beautiful in Central Park this time of year. The flowers had already had their first wind and now a few plants were growing new ones, some just getting their first flowers. A slight breeze ruffled the short hair of three of our beloved characters: Marlene, Skipper, and Private. They were walking along the paved trail that looped around Central Park. Marlene kept looking up in awe at all the trees, glad that she could finally be outside the zoo and enjoy herself, while not going wild. Private was just smiling at all the wildlife, laughing quietly to himself at an ant trying to carry an entire sandwich. Skipper walked, slightly bored, with his hands in his pockets. He was tense enough to snap into a fighting position if needed, though.

"Wow… Just… … Wow…," marveled Marlene as her eyes wandered from the sky to the trees to the grass and back to the sky again.

"This is pretty fun," Private agreed as a butterfly landed on his nose.

The butterfly stuck out its proboscis to try and suck the nectar out of one of Private's freckles, but it didn't work. Sadly, freckles aren't flowers.

The young freckled boy laughed, saying, "Thaht tickles!" His body shook a little as he laughed and the butterfly gave up, flying off to find a flower and -**not** a freckle.

The sides of Skipper's mouth curled up a bit as he smiled at the simple happiness of the two beside him. His sapphire eyes darted to the Oriental-looking girl on his left and the bright-eyed boy on his right then twinkled as Skipper let out a chuckle.

Curious, both the girl and the younger boy looked to Skipper with one eyebrow raised.

"Whaht's so funny, Skippah?" Private asked.

Laughing through his nose, he closed his eyes and tilted his head down as they continued walking. "You two." A hesitation from the others followed. He heard a quiet gulp then his eyes flew open as he felt something soft grasp his left hand. Looking down to his left, he found that Marlene had entwined her fingers with his. It felt nice at first, but then he realized that as a penguin, he wouldn't be able to feel this. No fingers…! He savored every moment of the experience.

Private just looked away awkwardly and began looking all the more closely at the little critters of the park.

* * *

Strolling down the sidewalk with their hands in their pockets were Shadow and Rico. They smiled coolly and looked as if they had no care in the world. Well, except for explosives, which one could see if one looked closely at their eyes and noticed a well-hidden mischievous glint. The bustling crowd made sure to keep their distance from the two, so as they walked, a large bubble was created around them.

Something to her left caught Shadow's eye. Gently nudging Rico's arm with her elbow, she whispered, "Pssst…!" When she saw Rico glancing at her out of the corner of his eye, she smirked and continued, "Looks like we got a playdate with some muggers, Ree."

Tilting his head forward a little, Rico looked past Shadow and saw a small group of about 4 people in black leather jackets, baggy blue jeans, white t-shirts, and purple scarves with identical designs on them. One had his scarf tied around his head. Another had his scarf tucked in the breast pocket of his jacket. The third had his scarf tied around his neck along with a gold chain. -_**Obviously**__ the leader_, both Rico and Shadow decided. The fourth had **her** scarf tied around her waist as it was a longer scarf than the others'.

The two teens looked back at each other, sharing a smile that said, "_We got this_." As they continued on, they found that the bubble in the crowd had gotten bigger to accommodate the newcomers, better known as thugs.

In the reflection on a stop sign, Rico noticed the girl briskly nod her head once. Right after, Shadow was pulled behind him by the man with the scarf in his pocket. Pivoting around to face the muggers, Rico took a fighting stance. He grinned when he saw that Shadow wasn't scared in the least and actually seemed to be enjoying it.

"Nice work, Donnis," the girl said to the pocket scarf man, patting his back as she sashayed past him and towards Rico. She quickly made her way right in front of the scarred teen. "Ooh. Tough guy," she said, smirking as she looked him up and down. Hearing a low growl from behind her, she looked over her shoulder. Seeing that it was only Shadow who Donnis had 'incapacitated', she left it alone and went back to Rico. "So tell me, tough guy. Would you rather fight for your girlfriend and have us take both her **and** your money or take **me** as your girlfriend and keep your money? Your choice," she said smugly, crossing her arms under her chest as she looked up at Rico, for he was significantly taller than she was.

Rico frowned at this, accentuating his scar.

"A scar? My **my**, big boy. You are **quite** the tough guy." She ran a thin finger along his scar, prompting her to swiftly pull her hand back when he snapped fiercely at her. Her eyes widened slightly then quickly went to a half-lidded state as she quietly chuckled to herself. "Well, it certainly seems like you've made your choice." She snapped her fingers and the other two men stepped up beside her. Flamingly staring into Rico's eyes, she continued, saying, "Kenna. You'll take this boy's money."

"Be glad to, Lizanne," the gold-chained man said, pounding his fist into his other hand as he grinned evilly at Rico.

"And Saber," Lizanne said, making the head scarf man stand at attention. "Take care of anyone who tries to call the police on us."

"Will do, Liz."

"For the thousandth time… **Shaver**… It's LIZANNE!"

"Sorry."

Lizanne started to mutter incoherently as she glared at 'Saber'.

Rico chanced a glance at Shadow who returned with a look reading, "_This is gonna be easy as chocolate pie_."

* * *

"Coriiiiii…," Des drawled.

Oh, she had done it now. Why did she have to turn to the dark side? Why did she have to be like Anakin Skywalker? Why did she become Darth Vader? WHY DID SHE-? …steal that boy's book? (AN: sorry. I like Star Wars)

"… What?" Cori said, protectively hugging the Spanish book close to her chest.

"… Can I have my book back?" the boy questioned, holding out his hand.

"No!" Cori barked. "'Tis -**my** book, now."

"Did you pay for it?" the boy asked.

"… No…," Cori answered hesitantly.

"Well I didn't either. Give it back," he said, trying to take the book back.

"Gasp! You **stole** this book that I stole?" Cori said, pretending to be overdramatic as she turned away from the boy to avoid his grasping hand.

"No… I got it from my teacher. Now give it back."

"Nnn**never**!"

"Cori, come on…," Des whined. "Dontchu want ice cream? Skip said we'were s'posed tuh meet'im fer ice cream soon…" She went up to Cori and whispered sadly, "I **like** ice cream, Cori…"

Cori frowned. "Well… 'F you want ice cream, Des… …I **guess** we c'n go." She began to walk off with Des.

"Uhh… Excuse me?" the boy asked, making the two girls turn around. When he saw their confused stares, he pointed pointedly (AN: hehe…) at the book nestled in Cori's arms.

"…" Des said nothing as she and the boy said waited for Cori's response.

"C'mon, dude," the lighter girl replied, turning around and starting to walk off. "If you want, you c'n come t'the ice cream shop w'th us. We're s'posed to be meetin' a friend there."

The boy looked to Des who only shrugged and followed her 'sister'. He sighed, dropping his shoulders as he did so.

* * *

"You did a great job scaling the building, Ali," Kowalski said as he carefully looked at the large art piece in front of him.

Ali also gazed at the huge painting that hung on the wall of the Museum of Modern Art. Noticing who exactly Kowalski's statement pertained to, she blushed and smiled behind her fist. "Th-thanks, Kowalski…"

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and saw her admiring the piece before them. He smiled and turned back to the art.

"I like how th's one has a lot'f orange in it."

"… And why is that?" Kowalski questioned.

Ali softly chuckled. As she spoke, she turned her head to him. "Orange 's my fav'rite col'r."

He pushed up his glasses a little to make sure he was seeing right then furrowed his eyebrows.

Ali seemed to be glowing. Her hair was flowing in some indoor wind and a choir could be heard in the background.

She got a confused look in her eyes, but kept her smile. "…What?"

Kowalski muttered to himself, "…This isn't logical… How could…?" He stopped short when he saw the glow move closer until it was clear that a giant light was being pushed down the hallway where they stood. A large fan rolled right behind it. The choir music began to lower in volume enough so that an apparent choir director could toss in some comments.

"Agh! Your singing ees **atrocious**! Mein hamstah could do bettah zan yoo! Tenors! Highaaaah! Baritones! Lowaaaah…" he said, making his voice higher when he said "higher" and lower when he said "lower". "GAH! Stohpstohpstohp." The choir listened. "Yoo must vork on your singing skills, **all** **ahf** **yoo**!" Seeing a tentative hand slowly raise up, he shouted, "No, I deed noht say 'Aye lahff yoo,' becoss I do **not**!" This scared the hand back to its original position by its owner's side. "I vant yoo **all **toprectice**, prectice, PRECTICE! **Zee big Christian art expo ees tonight end yoo must be **good**! Noht ziss goat crud yoo giff me! Now! Off vit yoo! Off! Go on! Shoo!"

"…" Kowalski now understood. It was all a misunderstanding.

"… Kowalski? K-Kowalski? 'Re you all right? …Walski?"

The nickname snapped him out of it and he refocused on Ali. "Yes? What?"

"You'were starin' off intuh space…," Ali stated confusedly.

"Oh. Sorry. Just… thinking…"

"Oh! I understand!" the brunette replied with a sincere smile. "I've done tha' before. Shadow had'to slap me out'f it one time." She giggled a little at the memory.

The two looked at each other for a moment then Kowalski spoke up. "Perhaps… we should move on to the next piece. Remember Skipper said to meet him at the ice cream shop at seventeen-hundred. If we want to even finish this hall by then, we're going to have to speed it up."

Ali nodded and moved to the next piece, closely examining the interesting textures used in its creation.

Kowalski chanced a couple glances at Ali, thinking about what he had seen and heard earlier. _…It was all a misunderstanding. It all had a logical explanation. … But did I __**want**__ it to…?_

* * *

"Hmmm… We should probably head for the ice cream shop. It's already sixteen-forty-five. Let's move." Skipper was stopped by a sudden tug on his right hand by Private and another on his left hand by Marlene. He turned to face them and asked in an exasperated tone, "**Wha**-at?"

"Skipper, relax. It's only a three minute walk from here to there. We've got time," Marlene said.

"And besides, Skippah," Private added. "Would it hurt to be a **smidgen** late?"

"'A **smidgen** late?' 'A **smidgen** **late**?'" Skipper exclaimed. "Manfredi and Johnson were '**a** **smidgen** **late'** and look what happened to them! They paid the price like Alice pays the zoo bills. Horribly."

"…" Marlene and Private said nothing as they calmly let skipper cool off for a few seconds.

"… … … Let's keep walking," he said, restarting his leisurely stroll.

The other two winked at each other and quickly caught up to him, happily continuing their walk.

* * *

"**Man**, that was awesome," Shadow said, smirking as she brushed her hands off.

"Mm-**hm**!" Rico agreed, nodding his head once.

The two looked at the eight gang members on the ground around them with satisfaction.

Just as Rico was about to get attacked, Shadow said a snappy comeback that grabbed the quartet's attention so that they all focused on her. Rico took the chance to "expertly" knock out Kenna and "Saber" by forcefully hitting their heads together. Right as Shadow was about to take out Donnis, another gang who all wore white belts around their waists showed up. The gang leader stated that it was their turf and their right to mug the two, rather than the Purple Scarves, and started a small brawl between the four White Belts (AN: hehe. white belts. karate humor) and two remaining Purple Scarves. Shadow and Rico had knocked out all of the lackeys of both gangs from behind, leaving only the leaders to fend for themselves. Shadow easily defeated the Purple scarf leader with a quick roundhouse kick to the face (after many tossed and blocked blows). The White Belt leader was a cinch for Rico to take down. …When he used a small firecracker to stun the burly man and punch him while he was disoriented.

"High five, dude," Shadow said, holding up a hand.

Rico eagerly slapped her five.

Looking at a clock on a building, Shadow noticed the time. She calmly said, "Dude. It's four-forty-something. I think we should start goin' towards that ice cream shop. I could really use a cold one after beating up all those white belts." (AN: no, not a cold beer. a cold ice cream)

"Hehe," Rico chuckled. "Karate."

And so the two cracked jokes and cracked up as they made their way to the ice cream shop.

* * *

"Man. They shoulda **been** here by now," Cori stated, looking at the door to the ice cream shop as she held tightly to her- no, wait- the boy's book.

It was 4:58PM. Corinne, Destiny, and Stolen Book Guy were the only ones inside the ice cream shop (besides the one worker who was completely engrossed in her 12 text conversations).

"He **did** say five o'clock, right?" Cori asked, looking to her cous- sorry- sister.

"Yeah. I think so," Des answered.

"Seriously, guys. I need my book."

"Don't talk to **me**. Talk to her," Des said, pointing a thumb at Cori.

The book stealer continued to stare out the window and, without looking away, she waved a hand dismissively and said, "Yeah, yeah. Wh'tever. Just sit 'n' eatch'r ice cream, dude."

"My name's not 'Dude.' It's Danny. And all right. I'll just eat my invisible spoon to eat my invisible ice cream." Danny pretended to do just what he said he would and said, smiling, "Mmmm… Delicious. Invisible is my favorite flavor."

Cori saw him from over her shoulder, laughed a little, and turned to Danny. "…Yer a cool dude. Ya know that, Danny?"

"I try," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

"**There** you guys are! Where've you been?" Des exclaimed, causing Danny and Cori to look where Des looked.

Shadow and Rico had just walked into the ice cream shop and seemed to have not noticed the shout. As the two passed Des, Shadow mussed up her darker friend's hair.

Des fake pouted, sticking out her bottom lip and furrowing her eyebrows.

"Calm down, Des," Shadow said as she and Rico sat down at the table, seated across from Des and Cori. "We weren't gone **that** long. It's not even five yet."

"Well it's **gonna** be 'n a minute! Ali 'nd K'walski aren't ev'n here yet!"

"Huh. That's weird," Shadow commented.

Rico's eyes caught something and he nudged Shadow. When he got her attention, he pointed to Danny and quietly asked, "…Who…?"

"… I have no idea."

"This 's Danny. Cori stole 'is book from 'im—"

"And I want it back!"

"… …Cori stole 'is book from 'im an' then'e followed us here," Des explained.

"Huh," Shadow replied. "So what kinda ice cream are we gettin'? …And how're we gonna pay for it?"

"… I nev'r thoughta that," Cori muttered.

"I could probably pay for it," Danny said.

"…There's nine 'f us, plus you," Cori noted. "I don'think you wanna spend tha'much money."

"Don't worry. I can paint myself silver and go out on the street, pretending to be a robot to get enough."

"…I'd love t'see that," Cori said, smirking a little.

"Then let's go," Danny joked. "I'll get some paint from House Depot or something."

"We… made it…," breathed Kowalski as he and Ali burst into the ice cream shop.

"Cool! Si' down, guys!" Des said happily.

Kowalski and Ali eagerly complied and sat next to each other, Rico on Ali's right and Kowalski on her left.

Ali looked straight forward and saw Danny. Tilting her head a little in confusion, she asked, "…Who's this?"

"Danny," Cori explained. "Long story short, I stole 'is book 'n' now he wants t'become a street performer so he c'n pay fer all 'f our ice cream."

"…Uh…" Ali was confused.

"He's a dude, all right?" Cori stated.

"… Okaaaaay…," Ali said.

"So what **are** we paying for the ice cream with?" Kowalski asked.

"A logical question, my good buddy. I do believe that the intuitiveness of our illegibility can be uprooted into the most indifferent an' exponential way," Cori said. "… That didn't make a **lick** 'f sense." After seeing her friends' baffled faces, her eyes widened in shock. "Oh no. I'm being… **countrified!**"

"Hey. Stupid. We're not **in** the country," Shadow said.

"… Oh. Right."

"Moron."

"True dat," Shadow said, smirking as she stuck out her hand, palm up, to Rico.

Rico was more than happy to oblige with a hand slap.

"We're here. And perfect timing, too," Skipper announced, entering the ice cream shop with Private and Marlene as he looked at the clock on the wall just as it turned 5:00PM. He sat at the head of the table, next to Kowalski.

Marlene sat across from Kowalski, next to Danny.

Private took a seat at the other head of the table, across from Skipper.

"Skippah, ahre we going to get our ice cream now?" Private asked curiously.

Shadow leaned back in her chair, eyes closed and arms folded behind her head. "Yeah. I feel like ice cream. Someone get some for me." Getting no response, she opened an eye and told Cori, "…Hello? That means you."

Cori stuck her tongue out at Shadow then said, "I'll hit you with Danny's book and make it look like he did it."

"Hey…!"

"… Skipper?" Marlene asked. Usually he would have responded by now.

"…Who's the rookie?" Skipper asked, staring suspiciously at Danny.

Danny quickly realized what kind of person- penguin- whatever!- Skipper was. He snapped his back straight and placed his hand to his eyebrow in a salute. "Name's Danny, sir! I am here on an important mission. A retrieval mission!"

"Hm. A soldier, huh?" Skipper said, smiling as he rubbed his chin with a fist. "What were you sent to retrieve?"

"My book, sir!" Danny said, pointing to the book in Cori's hands with his own free hand.

"Ah. Lemme let you in on a secret. You won't get that book back."

"What? Yes'e will! Here, Danny!" Cori exclaimed, pushing the book into Danny's chest. "You gotcher book back!" She crossed her arms and smiled smugly. "Ha! You were wrong! He got'is book back!" A moment of silence passed and then her smile turned to a frown. She facepalmed and said, "Aw man! Reverse psychology sucks."

"Psychology only works on people with **brains**, Cori," Shadow said, without opening her eyes.

"Shutup!"

"Welllllll… Not that it hasn't been… **greaaaat** talking to you all, but… I gotta go. Maybe I'll see you guys again sometime," Danny said, looking at Cori when he said the last sentence.

Cori smiled and felt as if she were blushing (AN: you can't see her blush because… well… … she's… "darker"…).

"Bye, guys!" Danny said, walking out of the door with his book under his arm.

"Ice cream!" Rico shouted excitedly.

"Yes, Rico. We'll get some ice cream," Skipper said.

"Yeaaah!" Rico exclaimed.

"I'll go order 'em," Ali said. "Wha'would ev'ryone like?"

"Vanilla!"  
"Vanilla!"

"Strawberry!"

"Matcha."

"Frozen yogurt."

"Hokey pokey, please!"

"Choc'late!"  
"Chocolate."

Shadow and Rico looked at each other, blinked a couple times in unison, then laughed.

"All right. So…," Ali recapped, "Vanilla fer Corinne an' Destiny, strawberry fer 'Walski, …matcha…? …fer Marlene…?"

"It's green tea ice cream," explained Marlene.

"Oh. Okay." Ali continued, "Frozen yogurt fer Skipper, hokey pokey fer Private –that's a special flavor of British ice cream; 'm I right?" After getting an affirmed nod from Private, she smiled a little more and proceeded. "And… choc'late fer both Rico an' Shadow." Everyone nodded, so Ali smiled and headed to the counter. "Okay, be right back."

It didn't take long for Ali to return with the ice cream (and frozen yogurt), all eight dishes in her arms. "Here you go!" she said happily as she delivered the ice cream around the table. When Rico reached for the last dish of ice cream, she said, "Oh. Tha'one's mine." She opened the top to reveal the green ice cream with brown flecks inside. "See? Mint choc'late chip. My fav'rite."

"… Mine?" Rico asked.

"Oh. I thought you two w'd like t'share," Ali stated, looking slightly confused between Shadow and Rico.

Shadow grimaced. "Wh-why would you think that…?"

"Well, b'cause you two li—"

"Nowedon'tjustgethimanothericecream'causeI'mnotswitchingthisoneGO!"

Everyone looked curiously at Shadow except for Des and Cori, who smirked smugly.

"… … … …Eh-heh." After a couple more seconds of silence, Shadow just stared at the wood of the table and began to wolf down her ice cream.

Ali went to go get another chocolate ice cream for Rico.

"…Brainfreeze…," Rico noted, grinning a little as he got his ice cream from Ali.

"I don't **get** brainfreeze, dude," Shadow smirked.

"Ali?" Kowalski began. "How did you acquire these frozen treats? I don't believe any of us had money…"

"… Who'needs money?" Ali said.

"… … … …Whot?" Private asked.

Ali smiled, a little mischievous glint in her eye as she pointed a thumb over her shoulder at the worker who was slumped over the counter.

"…Uh… Is she…?" Marlene started.

"No, she's not dead. I just pushed a couple pressure points and knocked her out."

"…" Silence engulfed the ice cream shop. Well… Close to silence. Shadow, Cori, and Des were eating their ice cream while everyone else stared, mouth agape, at Ali.

"… …What? I w's taught hum'n pressure points 'n'th' resistance."

"… … … …" Skipper, Rico, Private, Marlene, and Kowalski all slowly turned to their frozen treats and ate.

Ali shrugged her shoulders and started eating her ice cream, too.

"Wow!" Marlene said, through a mouthful of matcha ice cream. "Thish ish reawwy good!"

"Affirmative," Skipper agreed, continuing his consumption of his frozen yogurt.

Soon, everyone was happily eating their desserts.

"Stho," Cori started, munching on a spoonful of ice cream. She swallowed and continued. "Where's the serum t'turn us back intuh animals?"

"Yeah. Bein' human's fun 'n' all, b't I'd rather be a penguin. Life's much simpl'r tha'way…," Des agreed.

"… … … … …Uh… See… Funny thing… a-**bout** that…," Kowalski stuttered, laughing nervously.

"Lemme guess. You didn't make a 'turn-us-back' serum. Did you?" Shadow asked.

The tall former penguin smiled sheepishly.

Marlene sighed. "Same old Kowalski…"

* * *

So did you guys like it? Again. Sorry it took so long. I'm truly TRULY sorry. If you want, you can review, but it's alright if you don't. I don't deserve any reviews for my lame excuses... ... -snif- ... ... ... babbitrulez... -snif- out...


	11. My Apologies, People

Hey... guys... babbitrulez, here... I'm sorry, but I've had so much on my plate right now, that I can't exactly upload on time... So, uh... I'll update as soon as possible. again, I'm sorry, people! I don't WANT to read a 1243-page book by Alexandre Dumas! I'm sorryyyyyy! -snif- Alright. Ummm... ... babbitrulez out... -hugs for all of you who are still waiting for me and stickin' around!- Sorry that this wasn't a real chapter... ... Again, babbitrulez out...


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